Literature Love Affair
by LuluCastle
Summary: Summary: What is it that Professor Rodgers had for his student Katherine Beckett? No one knew. Is it mutual? Will they cross the borders? Angst&Romance
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, guys. This popped into my mind and I kinda managed to write it and post it. I have plenty of ideas for this story and I hope you'll stick around with me for a while. Hope you enjoy!**

 **Summary:** What is it that Professor Rodgers had for his student Katherine Beckett? No one knew. Is it mutual? Will they cross the borders?

* * *

Long and tight corridors with lockers.

White walls filled with posters about sports, other activities and tips for the students about their future and outlook for the world.

The university is different to school. It makes you more responsible for your learning, spend fewer contact hours with academic staff than your high school teachers and have far more independence.

You also meet a more diverse range of students. But for Kate it was nothing like that. It was a place that she only wanted to study and someday soon become Detective, so she could find the person standing behind her mother's case and bring justice.

The wounds were pretty fresh.

Walking in straight line searching where her class should be, she made eye contact with several people. One of them was a guy with dark hair and the other was an older woman with big glasses smiling kindly at her. So kindly that if she kept smiling like this her prosthetics will slough off very soon. It must be one of the teachers here.

It was similar to her old university, except that this one is for something very different than her old dreams and goals for life. It was different on, so many levels.

She had better chances here.

Taking what it seemed to be a lot of stairs, making her lungs tighten, Kate finally spotted the door with little numbers on it '104'.

So this was it. Door to a completely different path and routines. The door that-

 _Alright, you can go inside now._

She took a long and heavy breath before placing her hand on the wooden door knob, pushing it down slightly. Cracking the door open she made the whole room subside and stare at her.

 _Yup. It's normal. You are new._

The professor, who looked more like one of the students, turned from the writing board to look at her, as well. He raised his eyebrows and huffed. Of course, she thought he was going to make a comment about her being late on the very first day-

"Wow. If you make all the students shut up like this every time you come in, I am going to be really thankful." He joked and everybody started laughing.

Except her. Very funny, she thought. Couldn't she just come inside without no one noticing her and find a place to sit down?

The professor must've noticed her anxious and pale expression, so he waved his hand for her to come inside. The moment he saw her he perceived the pain flashing into her eyes. She was a skinny girl around 19 years old, with dark circles formed around her hazel eyes and her hand was grasping nervously at the shoulder strap of her backpack.

"You must be Katherine Beckett?"

"Yes." She met his blue eyes for a brief of seconds and then quickly averted her gaze down to her feet.

"Well, then Miss Beckett It's a pleasure to have you here. You can call me Prof. Rodgers and we'll be learning more about the Literature here in room '104'. If you want to introduce yourself to us you can come up here and talk, or if you don't, find a place you like and make yourself comfortable." He spoke generously at her. There was no way she was going to speak in front of everyone about who she is and stuff like this. So she just made her way to find a spot somewhere in the corner of the room, without saying a word.

It was her first day here, so he decided to give her the space to get used to the atmosphere around here and continued with his lesson.

In the corner of her eye she noticed that one of the guys was staring at her smugly.

As she was ignoring the gazing frog on the opposite seat, the professor picked up one of the girls from the first seats on the writing board. Kate was observing the scene from the back seats of the room, listening and watching the professor's movements. He was different. And what surprised her most is that he looked like pure 19-20 years old guy. Of course he was older than that, but why would someone, so young like him become a teacher?

After he asked the dark-skinned girl questions on the topic and some of the material from previous days, he took out papers from his bag placing them on his desk. "So…the bell is about to-"

And before he can finish his statement the bell rang and the classroom filled with giggling and laughing noises. Professor Rodgers frowned and held up his hands asking for a couple of seconds. "The only thing I want to say before you go is that everyone should take one of these tests, here on my desk on their way out and practice on them for tomorrow. You are free to go."

Wow. Did she really come for the last five minutes of the lesson?

 _Bad start._

Everyone stood up eagerly to leave and Kate calmly stayed in her seat, gathering her stuff. Before she could notice, she found herself alone in the room with the professor.

"Katherine can we talk for a sec? If you feel comfortable, of course." The professor spoke nicely, pulling up the sleeves of his buttoned up white shirt.

She felt her heart racing, because only her mother called her 'Katherine'. This was awkward and she hated speaking with teachers. It was awful and her hands started sweating at the very first second he wanted to talk with her.

Her head bobbed twice slightly, picking up her backpack, placing it on her arm and making her way towards his desk. Damn it. She hated stuff like this. Talking, answering about her private life and why she moved to this university, why she is living with-

"I wanted to ask you if you are aware of the stuff we are learning here at the moment and if there are things that are unknown to you. Because if there's something you haven't learned at your old university - I can make a compromise for you and wait till you reach the other students."

 _What? Whew. Good, he is not the curious type._

"I ughm-"She spoke hoarsely and cleared her throat, feeling her cheeks heating up. "What I've heard, so far in your lesson are things that I know and for now there isn't something unknown to me? I'll see how it goes the next time and – tell you if there's something."

He smiled, because that was the first time he heard her trembling and full of shyness voice. And it was music to his ears. The smile faded immediately from his face when he realized what he just thought about her.

This was, so wrong.

"Alright. If there's something else you want to ask you can do it without any hesitation."

"Thank you." She nodded and made her way out, but before she-

"Oh, wait – your paper. Here, you'll need it for tomorrow." He extended his hand, giving her the homework.

She took it gently from his hand and folded it into two parts so as not to smash. "Can I ask you for a favor, Prof. Rodgers?"

His eyebrow raised in funny watching her with suspicion, like he was some kind of an agent interrogating her. "Depends on what is it."

"Please don't call me Katherine. Call me whatever you want, but not this." She noticed the way his eyes transformed into serious countenance and he nodded with understanding.

 _Thank God._

She finally prepared herself to attend the next laboratory class. Chemistry.

Heading towards the lockers she nearly laughed out loud at herself, because she didn't even know where her locker was. Spotting the dark-skinned girl from the literature lecture, she approached her and cleared her throat before speaking. "Excuse me, I am new around here and – um. Do you mind telling me how to find my locker? I'll completely understand if-"

"Oh, sweetie, of course I will." The girl responded kindhearted. "I think yours is next to mine, right here. Did the University administration give you a key?"

Oh, right. Very smart, Kate Beckett.

"Uh, yes. I totally forgot about it." Kate laughed nervously and took it out from the back pocket of her jeans extending it towards the girl.

"It's alright. Here, let's try to unlock it." She twisted the small key inside the locker and the metal door cracked open.

"Thanks, I am totally out of my mind." Kate rolled her eyes at herself.

"Girl, it's totally okay. I am here for a month or somethin' and in the beginning it was a disaster. Strangers walking around, staring at you like you killed somebody. Teachers giving you all the attention… I know the feeling."

"Yeah." A quiet laugh escaped from Kate's lips, surprised by herself.

"So, I didn't hear quite good your name earlier. What was it?"

"Kate." She simply answered. "Yours?"

"I am Lanie Paris. Nice to meet you." She extended her hand and Kate found herself shaking with her new friend, responding with quiet "Likewise."

"Right. Well, I'll head for the chemistry and prepare myself for the next hour of torture…"

"I have chemistry in my program, too." Lanie said smiling widely. "Oh, man, I already feel like you are my best friend. We can sit together!"

"Really – Oh – that's great." Kate stumbled over her words and before she knew what was going on, her new friend was dragging her towards the chemistry lab. It turned out better than she thought. At least she found someone who looked normal and chatty. Maybe a little chattier than normal, but that was okay for now.

* * *

 **Thoughts?**


	2. Chapter 2

On the next day he woke up with a wide smile, feeling a lot more motivated to go to work than before. As he was drinking his coffee, he checked the tests from the previous week and they were a lot better than the last one he gave to the students.

Taking the bus, he ate a homemade sandwich, while listening to music on his iPod in the meantime. He never felt like a professor-teacher. More like person who helped people to orientate themselves on which path to choose and how to learn basic stuff. Not that he knew which path to choose… He was still learning.

When he arrived on time and the bell rang, he entered the classroom hoping to spot her somewhere in the corners of the room. But she wasn't there. Maybe she missed her bus or something? Or if she was driving a car, maybe her tire-…

This is crazy, he thought. This is none of his concern.

Another day passed and Katherine Beckett was not here. Not that he cared. It was just some kind of curious part of his brain that wondered where she was. New girl in new university.

Continuing his lesson like every simple day one of the guys interrupted him by raising up his hand.

"Yes, ?" The professor asked. So, what was important to interrupt his statement?

"I was wondering where the new girl is. Is she going to come again or it she has been here just for one day?"

"Yeah, is she coming back?" another guy asked somewhere from the back seats.

"As far as I know, Mrs. Beckett has a program and she is officially our student. It's up to her and it's her responsibility when she will attend to our lessons and when not." He explained to the eager boys.

"Maybe she is sick." Josh said.

"Josh keep it in your pants." Lanie said and the whole class laughed.

"And you should shut-"Before he could continue what he was about to say the professor raised up his hands in front of them. "Okay, that's necessary. Let's get back to our earlier activities and if someone wants to ask questions not-related to the material, please wait till the bell rings."

He really wanted to know if she is coming back, too.

A whole week passed and Kate Beckett finally showed up in the middle of his lesson. But she - her face was….

"I'm sorry I'm late." She mumbled, never moving her gaze away from her feet. The whole class stared open mouthed at her, whispering at each other.

When Prof. Rodgers head rose up to look at her, his heart shattered into million pieces by the sight in front of him. Her bottom lip was bruised and there was slightly dried blood flowed from her cleft eyebrow. Her shoulders were slumped and there were other hardly noticeable bruises, but he stopped gazing like the others in the room did.

"It's alright, come in." He spoke with caring and weak smile, gesturing for her to join the lesson. She quickly made her way towards her seat in the corner of the room and sat down without saying a word. Shoulders still slumped down, she took out her notebook and pen, trying to focus on the lesson. It was hardly possible, but still…. It was some kind of a distraction.

At the end of the Literature lecture she quickly stood up and left her homework paper on the professor's desk, making her way out without anyone noticing. Except that he had noticed. And admired that even, though something bad happened to her, she had written her homework.

He was dying to know what happened to her.

* * *

By the end of the day Mr. Rodgers and the guard were the only people left in the university. He stayed in the library till night doing paperwork, checking results, checking homeworks. Taking notes… something that would help him move on in the next lessons. He was still very young and non-experienced teacher. It sometimes took him a lot of time to make the class go quiet or to hold back from shouting to some of the students. He knew what is like to be scolded by a teacher. But only thing he wanted is peace and respect.

It was getting too late and his mind was everywhere, but concentrated on work. Gathering his stuff and turning off the library lights he made his way out, but something made him stop in his tracks.

It was a light coming from the toilets.

Maybe someone left it turned on? But that wasn't guaranteed.

Walking quietly towards what it seemed to be the female toilets, there was a shadow of a person sitting on the floor. Yeah. There is definitely something odd here.

Stepping inside he met with the sight of her propped against the wall, her knees pressed to her abdomen and face hidden behind her palms.

"Mrs. Beckett?" He spoke quietly trying to avoid scaring her. Even, though he tried, she startled a little bit and looked like a lost puppy at him.

Then he realized she was scared that he caught her being here, so late.

"I am sorry - Oh God, I thought - let me just gather my stuff and I'll…" her trembling hands started gripping on the backpack, but before she could do anything, he spoke decisively "Hey, It's alright. I am not going to scold you or something… You aren't doing anything bad."

"Still. I shouldn't be here." Her cheeks flamed up.

"Yes, I'm a little surprised about the fact that you are here, so late. But I don't see you placing a bomb in the building." A moment of silence passed and he raised up his one eyebrow. "You haven't placed a bomb, did you?"

Her lips curled up into a sweet smile, which invented pain in her bottom lip and the smile quickly faded away. "No, I didn't."

"Good."

He ran a hand through his already messy hair and studied her limp body on the floor. "Would you mind a little company?"

She shook her head and he sat against the opposite wall, sitting in front of her with crossed legs. He adjusted the volume of the music coming out from his iPod to lower and tilted his head back to Kate.

"Who did that to you?" He immediately regretted what left his mouth, but it was already out before he could stop it.

"It doesn't matter." She sighed.

"It does."

"Why?" she found herself asking. Why was he even here? This was too weird and uncomfortable.

"Because you are human and I care about the humans on this planet." He pinned his lips in a straight line. He was kind of adorable.

She closed her eyes for a brief second and rubbed her temple.

"You are here, instead of your home." He stated and she kept her mouth shut. "Someone did this on your lip… and you don't want to go home, so your mother and father won't figure out. Is that why you are here, so late?"

Her body trembled at 'your mother and father', because there wasn't such people in her life anymore. Her father was still alive, but…

He was asking too many questions and it was triggering her anxiety. If he doesn't stop soon, it will make her break down. Damn it, he was her fucking professor. It's weird even to be in one room with him. In the toilets.

"Professor I don't want to snap or be disrespectful towards you, but may I ask how any of this is your concern? Doesn't this whole situation seem a little bit awkward for you? Teachers don't do that. They don't speak late night in the toilets with their students." Her hands started sweating.

"Why not?" his eyebrows furrowed.

"Because you are my professor. It's not - It's wrong."

"It's not like I am crossing lines or something, I am just caring person. And what if I am a teacher? Does that make me something different? Some alien or non-human creature… I just - the image of your bruised face made me a little bit shocked and worried. You are a young girl and beaten up. Of course, it would make me care and talk with you."

"I don't know, it's a little bit creepy. I guess I am just not used to teachers being, so friendly?" She admitted.

"I understand." He nodded. He is creepy. "You are right, I am going to leave-"

"No, wait. I didn't mean it like that, I just - I am frightened of everything at the moment. It's not you, Mr. Rodgers."

He nodded and unzipped his backpack. "Look, before I leave you - there are a couple of sandwiches and snacks here. If you are planning on sleeping here you should have something to eat."

He already guessed she was going to sleep here.

This was uncomfortable on so many levels, but she actually found it sweet. People nowadays are, so disrespectful and non-caring that she actually thinks he is creepy. But actually she must be grateful that people like him existed.

Maybe it wasn't, so bad.

"Can I have the snacks, please?" She asked shyly, meeting his ocean pupils and his lips curled into a sweet smile.

"Here, take everything and decide which one you want." He gave her the paper bag with food and looked down at his watch. "I'll go, now, and don't worry about the guard. He is a friend of mine. See you tomorrow on lectures, Mrs. Beckett."

"Thanks." She murmured, biting on her bruised lip.

She didn't know how to feel about what just happened.

 **Review? ^_^**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three, enjoy!**

* * *

The minute she woke up on the cold tile floor, Kate frowned at the sudden pain in her sore back and arm. Watching at the time on her phone her eyes widened in horror. "Fuck." She cursed under her breath. It was 9:30AM and there were thirty minutes left till her first lecture. Standing up on her feet before someone could come and find her here, she exited the women's toilets heading for the lockers.

Students were gathering quickly around the corridors, walking, talking and laughing. Thank God no one saw her. She must put an alarm next time.

If there's a next time.

As she was taking her physics workbook from the locker, someone tapped her on the arm from behind.

"Hi, you are the new girl!" She exclaimed sweetly and Kate watched her with gathered eyebrows.

"Ye-ah. And you are?"

"I am Maddie. Nice to meet you." The blonde extended her hand and she accepted.

"I am Kate."

"Prof. Rodgers earlier this week told us to invite you to our club. And I'm really excited that you are here, we all are. It's going to be so fun if you join us!" She clapped her hands together.

"He – what?" Kate started rambling.

"Our Literature teacher." Maddie rolled her eyes. "How can you not know him? He is the sexiest male-teacher in the whole university. Blue eyes and-"

"I know who he is." Kate cut her off, getting annoyed by all of this.

"Oh." Maddie's eyes widened and then she chuckled. "So, are you joining our club? It's about-"

Kate didn't pay much attention to the rest of the sentence and smiled kindly at the girl. "You know – give me some time and I'll think about it, alright?"

"Of course." She laughed, but Kate didn't find anything funny in this whole conversation. "See you in literature."

"Yeah…" she mumbled and turned around to close her locker, but after barely a second she felt someone's presence behind her.

"I told you, I'm going to think about it - Oh." Kate's eyes widened at the sight in front of her.

It was the guy with the dark hair that she saw on her first day here. Kate thinks he might be from her Literature class. But she wasn't sure.

"Hey, there Kate." He laughed at her expression. "I see you didn't expect it to be me."

She took a strand of her hair, placing it behind her ear. "I thought it's this girl – Maddie. She wants me to join her club."

The guy nodded. "Yeah, she asks everyone to join her club, it's nothing new."

"I feel special." Kate said sarcastically and he laughed. Wow. Good job, Kate. You made someone laugh.

"I am Josh, by the way." They shook hands and she bit on her lip, nervously. "Nice to meet you."

"What happened to your beautiful face, do you need me to beat someone for you?" Kate was gaining more confidence, but moment he articulated those words, she immediately remembered that her face was bruised and it was probably the ugliest sight ever.

"Oh, no." She faked a laugh. "I fell from my bike, it's nothing like that."

"Fell from your bike? That must've hurt."

"Yeah…." She bit on her lip.

The bell rang and she sighed in relief.

"Well, then Kate… It was really nice talking to you. Do you want to eat with me on lunch time? You know – as just friends – to get to know each other?" She noticed he had a nervous habit, as well. Bouncing on his feet.

Kate accepted Josh's invite to eat together at lunch and they went to Chemistry class together. Josh seems to be a nice guy. He was kind, sweet and seemed to be intelligent.

* * *

It takes time to adjust to new things and going to university almost inevitably involves the people you mix with and what you do from day to day.

University, in so many ways, is not like school. That's the point, right? There are no assemblies, no uniforms and no need to ever touch an A-level maths book again (unless you end up teaching maths of course).

She had to take more responsibility for her own learning than she had probably done before and no one will chase her up for late essays or rogue coursework.

And she liked it that way.

University courses are generally a mix of lectures, seminars and tutorials. Kate's favorite part of learning were laboratory practicals, field trips, drawing classes and all kinds of other things.

She had lack of sleep the past days and her eyes were barely standing open during the Chemistry lesson. It is worth bearing in mind that the only time a fellow student will wake you up is when your drooling starts to make their notes go soggy. Concentrating for a whole hour or two might be hard at first, but she will get used to it.

* * *

21:07PM

Making himself to finally go home, he took his backpack hanging it on his arm. This job was really draining all the energy from his body, but it some kind of way it was worth it. He loved teaching people and noticing the progress in them. Besides being a teacher helps him. He learns more, too.

Walking through the empty extended corridors he tried to untangle his headphones, but accidentally he dropped them on the floor, sighing. No matter how gently and carefully he placed them in his pocket, they were always tangled in the hardest way.

Once he researched in Google 'How to untangle headphone cords', but the steps were too much and he clicked the 'x', closing the page.

And now he regretted it…

As he was bending down to take them, he heard footsteps and then someone's voice.

"Prof. Rodgers?" Kate asked in wonder, standing in the dark hallway.

"Huh?" He turned around to find her staring at him with a raised eyebrow. Looking down at the messed up headphones in his hands, he frowned. "I can't untangle them."

A quiet laugh escaped from her mouth and she quickly covered it with a cough, making an echo.

"You're here again." He found himself pointing out of the obvious. "So late."

She nodded, biting on her bottom lip. "Yeah, I was doing my homework in the library. It's quiet there and I can concentrate better."

"That's wonderful." He smiled and Kate nodded shyly. "Are you going to sleep – here?"

"No, actually I was just about to head home." He was a little relieved when he heard her saying she is going home. Yesterday it really got him worried she is sleeping here. "My bus must arrive soon."

"Alright."

Shouldn't she take a cab? It's safer and-

"Uh, I almost forgot to thank you." She said, placing her hands inside of her coat pockets.

"For what?"

"For yesterday. I mean – thank you for giving me something to eat. I didn't realize how hungry I was until I tasted it." Her cheeks flamed up from the admiration. Good thing it was dark and he couldn't notice it.

"Just admit that I make the best sandwiches and it'll be okay."

"Right." She rolled her eyes. "Actually, I meant the snacks. It was really good."

"Very funny." He narrowed his eyes and she found herself laughing again.

She looked down at her phone, frowning. Ugh. "I have to go or I'll miss my bus. Thanks, again. Goodbye, Prof. Rodgers."

"Be safe." He mumbled, watching her exit through the doors.

He slept better that night knowing she went home, instead of sleeping in the stinking toilets.

* * *

 **Thanks for the great comments, guys! I'll try to post as much as I can. Thoughts?**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** I am not sure if this chapter is good or bad.

Chapter Four

* * *

Today was one of the days she didn't have literature in her program. Which in some way disappointed her.

On the other hand, she had a lighter schedule and it would give her some more time for studying and then find something interesting in the library. It became one of her favorite places.

Taking a turn, she unexpectedly bumped into someone's big frame. The notebooks she was holding, fell onto the ground.

"I'm really sorry, I was late for my - Kate?"

She looked up and the sight in front of her made her heart skip a beat. It was him.

Josh.

"It's fine, really-"As she was bending down to pick her stuff up, he joined in gathering her papers.

"Let me."

The corners of her mouth lifted up into a shy smile. He really was sweet and very intelligent guy.

It felt like she is in some kind of a movie. The boy bending down to help her…

When he collected them in his hands, they stood up and he gently gave Kate her belonging, brushing his hand against hers. She was too excited to understand if he did it on purpose or accidentally.

"By the way lunch was great with you last time. We should do it again." He smirked.

"That would be nice." She bit on her bottom lip.

"Look, I am really going to be late now, but do you want to hang out after lectures? Maybe I can walk you home?" Her eyes lighted up at the suggestion and her mouth went dry.

Josh Davidson wanted to walk her home.

Did he really suggested to walk her home?

He did?

"If you think it's too soon I can-"

"No." She blurted out, shaking her head. "It's perfect."

 _Really, Kate? Perfect?_

"Okay, it's settled then. Meet me on the bus stop?"

Kate nodded and when he left, she couldn't help herself, but grin widely and dance on her way to the lecture.

When she entered the chemistry lab and found herself settled next to Lanie, her friend on the first second narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Kate remained calm, chewing on her bottom lip.

"By the amount of red on your cheeks I can tell something exciting happened to you." She teased. "C'mon share with me."

"S'nothing."

Lanie gave her the look. Yeah, she was good at gleaning information and convincing people.

"I'm going to be seeing with Josh after lectures." Kate blurted out in a whisper.

"What?" Lanie hissed in disapproval.

"What, what?" Kate's eyebrows gathered in confusion. What was wrong with that? Couldn't she hang out with people, huh?

"It's Josh." Her friend rolled her eyes.

"And?"

"Are you seriously going to-"Their conversation was interrupted by the old lady leading their chemistry lectures. Kate frowned at Lanie's sudden reaction.

What she meant by 'It's Josh.'? He seemed to be a normal and generous guy.

Maybe she was just jealous.

 _Probably._

* * *

"So what do you want to do after you graduate?"

"I want to be a Detective."

She watched his eyebrows raise up in astonishment. Maybe she said the wrong thing.

"Wouldn't this take you a lot of training and time?" Josh asked, walking in rhythm with her, brushing their shoulders together.

"Yes, but I think I can handle it. Studying is the hardest part." He laughed at her last statement.

"What about you?" She found herself asking back.

"I like entertaining myself with motorcycles. But this is not something that would help me in future, so I am striking for a medicine."

"Dr. Davidson." She smirked and Josh bumped her arm with his playfully.

 _It was good._

To have someone you can talk to and hang out after lectures. She likes having more time to herself, but now she could spare some for friends… Not that she had a lot of friends. Lanie, Josh and Maddie were the only people she had talked to until now. But it's her first week here, so it's normal. Besides having a lot of 'friends' was not something Kate Beckett relies on.

"Why did you choose medicine?"

"I like saving people's lives." He shrugged. "It makes me live more peacefully knowing I can help somehow. Once upon a time when I was fifteen years old, I saved a girl's life."

"You did?" Kate's eyes widened in admiration.

"Yeah, we were camping at the time with my class and we were jumping from a hill down into the water. It was fun. Until one of the guys thought it's going to be more fun if he push the girl from the hill. She couldn't swim and I jumped after her. Then when we made it to the dust I helped her come back to consciousness."

"This is priceless. I bet her family was really glad you were there at the time…"

"Actually I've never met them." He shrugged. "But the girl was thankful, though. And alive. That's enough for me."

Kate hummed and he asked "And you – what draws you towards the idea of becoming a Detective?

His question nearly made her stumble over her own feet. Her head tilted down to hide her wrecked facial expression. Shrugging her shoulders she answered simply "I don't know. I guess – that bringing justice to the world is my thing."

And after that she quickly changed the topic. Of course she was not going to bring up this right now.

Her feet were hurting and she was exhausted, but the walk with Josh was worth it. With every passing day with him, she convinced herself that he is a very good person. Not a jerk.

Finally they reached her building.

Saying 'goodbye' to someone, especially in front of the doors was always awkward. So she waited for him to make the first step.

"This walk was definitely worth it. And the little talk with you, of course. I look forward to know more about you, Kate." He smiled and she nodded coyly, chewing on her bruised lip.

"I had a great time, too."

"See you tomorrow?" Josh asked, bouncing on his long feet.

"See you tomorrow." She responded and turned around to enter the doors of her building, but he caught her by the elbow and leaned down to kiss her on the cheek.

And then he left.

Nice way of saying goodbye, she thought.

In a long time she haven't been feeling, so good.

But her filled with exhilaration smile quickly faded away, knowing what disaster is waiting her at home.

Twisting the key and entering her loft she met with the smell of heavy alcohol and baseball show thrumming through the walls. The curtains were closed and everything was dark, even though outside was sunny.

"Katie." He was sitting on the couch with propped legs on the length of the coffee table and bottle of whiskey on it.

"Hi, dad." She sighed and threw her bag on the floor. Heading towards the windows, she opened them and then went back to the TV turning down the volume. Her father followed her movements with his blurry eyes, getting frustrated. When she reached to take his bottle he asked "What are you doing?"

"I am throwing this in the trash." She held it up away from him and Jim stood up from the couch furiously, watching her with irritation.

"Give me back the bottle, Katie. Don't make me take it by myself."

"No."

Her heart trembled in fear, noticing how his jaw clenched.

"Dad – please, stop drinking." She wanted to make him understand. "You are not making it better. Trust me. I know you don't want to feel that way anymore. Me neither, but – the alcohol only numbs your real feelings and emotions for a while and then… - you are in the same place as before. You want drink the same amount as you are feeling so that you can at least get to a neutral point, but – Dad this does not help. It only destroys you."

She knew that he was already an addict, and that he couldn't control the urges to drink after he introduced it into his system, and it becomes a habit, you cannot stop at just 1. Or just 2, or just 3.

You cannot stop until you are falling down drunk, and pass out. You cannot stop until your life has become completely unmanageable, you are spiritually bankrupt, and you hit rock bottom.

He stepped closer to her and she flinched.

"Don't make me repeat, Kate. Give it."

"Or what? You are going to hit me again?"

* * *

The next time he saw her, it was in the library.

21:47PM and she was there. Sleeping. Her body was numb on top of the desk full of books and sources taken from the science section. It made him frown at the sight of her so drained out and tired.

After a minute of staring he noticed something odd on her pale face. There were bruises. A lot of bruises. Heavier than before and it made his heart clench, wondering who would do something like this to such a brittle person. They were recent and non-formed, yet. Her old wound on her eyebrow was re-cleaved and her bottom lip was slightly swollen with purple forming on the wounded spot.

It was really bad.

On one hand, he didn't know what to do. Whether to wake her up, or leave her to sleep.

One the other, he was just a - teacher that she obviously will never look at as a friend even for a moment. Or a person who cares.

And she thinks it was creepy.

And it was really creepy, thinking about it.

But he couldn't just leave her and act like he haven't noticed. This is serious. Someone kept on adding marks on her.

 _We are talking about a student's life here._

He gritted his teeth and gained some courage to sit quietly next to her on the desk.

"Kate?" He whispered, but there was no response from her. He cleared his throat and tried this time louder.

Her head detached from her elbow, she was sleeping on, turning to find him staring at her carefully. Her hair was a mess and her eyes were rimmed in red. If she didn't look, so exhausted he must've thought she is high.

"I fell asleep." Kate murmured, looking down at the pile of open books. "I have an assignment to write."

"It can wait." He said simply and she glanced with gathered eyebrows at him.

"What?"

"Are you alright?" He suddenly asked, which made her even more jumbled.

"Yeah. I'm just tired."

Something like deep worry flashed into his eyes. This was the first time she perceived something like this in him.

"Kate." He stared at her swollen eye and she quickly adverted her gaze away from him. "You are – your face…"

 _Oh. Right…_

"I am fine." She sighed and wrapped her arms around her abdomen.

"Are you sure? Because couple days ago you showed up with bruises on your face and now it – it's even worse. I don't know how you are here studying through such a pain."

"Prof. Rodgers I really admire your concern, but I can assure you that there isn't-"

"Now it's really not time for persuasion. You can trust me and tell me who keeps on doing such things to you. I promise to not tell anybody if that's what holds you back from sharing. You just need help." He spoke with fear written all over his face, showing how apprehensive he is.

"I do not."

"Yes, you do." He hissed.

"No, I don't. What are you? Therapist undercover?" This was getting on her nerves. But she regretted what she said, because for first time someone actually cared. And all she do is- "I snapped. Sorry. But – really, I am fine."

"Right. Says the girl who shows up in class with bruised face, sleeps in the toilets and then after couple of days-

"Okay, I get it." she held up her hands. "You want to help, Prof. Rodgers, although it's super weird. But just accept that you can't. And I won't tell you anything, because the person who did - he – it wasn't on purpose. I love him no matter what." She didn't mean to say the last words, but they just escaped.

"Your boyfriend." He narrowed his eyes at her and if they were in darker room she would feel interrogated.

"Look – you are not even close. Don't dig into this."

"Your friend who you owe money?" He tried again and she just stared at him with crossed arms. "Nah. More like – some enemy from your past? No, wait… you said you love him."

Kate swallowed anxiously, because he was going to find out very soon and she can't deal with-

"Brother or father?"

Before he could empathize what was going on, she was on her feet, gathering her notebooks in the backpack, turning to leave.

Fuck. That wasn't his plan, he didn't mean to… Well done. Couldn't he just keep his mouth shut?

He caught her by the arm slightly, making her look at him in surprise. And he realized that for the first time in his life he permitted himself to touch a student. To even get close to a student. And his hand immediately dropped away from her.

"Hey, wait – please, sit. I'm going to go. Just please-"He breathed out fretfully.

She was scared.

Scared that if people learn about her father they will start talking and throwing rumors. Actually, that wasn't the real obstacle. The problem was that if someone reports him, they'll send him somewhere he don't belong. And he was the only thing she had.

She sat back down on the chair.

"I overstepped. I apologize." He mumbled and Kate watched him run a hand through his brown hair. Then he took out a little white card from his jacket, sliding it next to her on the desk.

"I'll stop. Just one last thing that I want to tell you. And it's – whenever something like this happen again, you can always give me a call. I can help."

Her mouth went slack. He was already gone before she could say something.

There was his number on the little card.

She wanted to take it and smash or cut it into pieces, but there was something holding her back from doing it. Her vulnerability. So instead she just stared at it, deciding on what to do.

Now there was definitely no way she could write her assignment for tomorrow or get any sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** By the way Rick in this fanfic is not rich, because he is not an author, yet. And he is not a father, yet. *evil grin* see what I did here?

Chapter Five

* * *

 **A month later**

For the first time he gained some courage to write something down in the Microsoft Word file. His fingers were typing with full speed on the laptop keyboard. So fast that most of the words were mistaken, but nothing stopped him from continuing. He will correct them later. Or search for an auto-correction option.

His brain was exploding, from, so many ideas and potential thoughts about each character.

Describing.

Delivering emotion into it.

Writing one sentence over and over again, until it just – felt right.

Even the ringtone on his cell phone didn't catch his attention. But whoever was calling was very insolent and very determined to make him pick up. He paused in the middle of the sentence and noticed that his personal was the one ringing.

This must be something really important.

Unknown number.

"Hello?" He answered his phone.

When the director of the theatre spoke to him, declaring that his mother had broken her leg on stage, he immediately took a cab and went to the hospital.

When the vehicle stopped in the parking lot, without caring, he threw a wad of money in the lap of the driver and flew out of the Taxi.

It was past midnight and everything was buzzing with people. Emergency rooms. Doctors pulling the stretcher of a man with oxygen mask over his face. Kid in soccer equipment bouncing on his leg, the other one in cast. And all of these scenarios made him realize at one point that he was standing in the middle of the entrance staring.

Clearing his throat and trying to calm his pounding heart, he searched for the reception.

They contacted him with the nurse who called him earlier and she led him to his mother's room. Walking in the long corridors, he listened to the woman about the condition of his mother's leg.

"Mrs. Rogers has a broken bone that has been exposed to the outside, by bone sticking out through the skin and-"

"Her bone is sticking out?" His eyes widened in worry and the nurse looked at him calmly.

"Yes. It is called an open fracture. But it's nothing that we haven't been dealing with before. Your mother is very strong and tolerate person. "

"Yeah, she is…" He mumbled.

"Fracture is broadly seen on X-ray in curve shape and there is a gap between the broken bones. Thankfully there's no need for surgery including iron plates." He cleared his throat at the word 'surgery'. Thank God.

"Anything else I should know?"

"Only that there must be someone 24/7 near your mother in case she needs something. You have to keep a good eye on her. And if there are any complications and unusual pain you can contact me." The nurse extended her little card with her name and telephone written on it.

He mumbled a low 'Thanks' and when they reached her door, she gestured him to get in.

What scared him most is that his mother was not one of the youngest people. Injures like this on her age can cause a lot of problems in the future. Not to mention recovering from a broken leg is difficult even for kids. But he chose to stop overthinking it and opened the door to her room.

* * *

On their way back to the loft he already contacted with Olivia – the perfect person who can take care of his mother while he is teaching students. Olivia was similar age to Martha and they were more like friends – rather than a person who takes care for the other one, because it's just a job. He knew both of them enjoy talking a lot and he wouldn't be worrying about his mother being bored.

They gave her crutches to help walking and it really made him frown at the sight of his spiritual and mobile mother bouncing and trying to walk. He noticed the lines of her face were protruded. She was acting like everything is fine, but he knew it's not.

Helping her get out from the cab and giving his last money to the driver, they slowly made their way up in the loft.

He was listening to her puffs and perceived the blood that was passed down into the veins of her hands which were holding onto the crutches.

* * *

 **On The Next Day - 23:23PM**

The rooftop of the University was his favorite place. Sitting and watching up to the night sky, he was kind of hoping to see a shooting star.

Make a wish, people said. He always found it pretty magical.

People wish for things that they don't have. Toss the pennies into a fountain, and hope that the wish will come true. They look up to the sky, and see the North Star, close their eyes and wish for something special. When we blow out the candles on the birthday cake, we have to make a special wish, and must not tell anyone or the wish will not come true.

But the only thing he wanted is to not feel alone. And of course, his mother to be alright and reach her theatre dreams.

He knew she would be alright, though. But watching her like this… it made him feel helpless. People like Martha Rodgers were not supposed to be sitting on the couch for a month, recovering. She was a dynamic person, who wants to do different kind of things all day on her feet.

He didn't even ask how she fell from the stage. He didn't even want to imagine his mother in pain.

In some way he felt guilty for not being next to her. They barely saw each other the past weeks. Both of them busy and loaded with work. But he needed to manage life for himself somehow. And teaching was the best option right now.

He jumped at the sound of the metallic door of the rooftop slamming. Standing up on his feet, he watched the form of a person in the distance. When the person spoke, he immediately recognized it.

"I – uh. Wrong door." She turned around to leave.

"Wait!" He stepped forward. He didn't know what to say. Great. To his surprise she turned around and looked at him in the darkness. Her hands were protectively wrapped around her middle. Or she was just cold.

"I didn't know you were going to be here. I - am sorry for disturbing you -"

He laughed and shook his head at her mindfulness. "You're not. Come on, calm down. Don't treat me like the director."

This didn't seem to make her even a bit more comfortable, so he just rolled his eyes and made his way to his old spot.

He was creepy. So it would be better to just stop caring. He was not in the mood for that.

Sitting down on the cold pavement, he heard weak footsteps behind him.

A few seconds passed and he felt Kate's presence next to him. Her bag dropped on the floor a couple of feet away from where he was sitting and she plopped down on the top of her bag. Keeping herself distanced she glanced around, hugging her knees closer to her chest.

It was the middle of October and damn – it was really getting cold. She was only in cotton sweatshirt and a pair of jeans. Tomorrow she will take care of finding her winter clothes.

Minutes passed and she managed to finally take a look at the teacher next to her. He was quite different tonight. He was not asking questions. And she didn't want to, but – it's unusual. The silence around him was untypical.

The last time they spoke to each other was in the library a month ago.

It wasn't one of her best memories.

Somehow she felt the urge to ask him something. Even in class, he has been different lately. He was not the same entertaining Prof. Rodgers that the students used to know. It was like he was just forced to go and teach without feeling the desire to do it.

"Why are you here?" It left his mouth sounding rougher than he wanted it to sound.

The arms around her knees tensed, avoiding his eyes. "I wanted to – I found this place a week ago. I swear I didn't know you know about it, too. I'd never-"

"I didn't mean it like that." He sighed. "I just care."

"Oh." Her eyebrows furrowed.

"Yeah."

A pregnant silence surrounded them again. Only sounds they could hear were the emergency sirens from the city down there and the cold wind moving the dried leaves.

He sighed and looked down at his phone for a second and then ran a hand through his messy hair.

"Is everything alright?" She surprised him by asking. His head turned to glance at her and he could tell she was nervous asking him that.

"Yeah." He blinked. "I just – something happened yesterday and I can't help, but wonder about some things."

Yeah, she completely understood everything by this sentence.

"You can always share – you know…" Her arms, shrugged shyly, astonishing him again. But then she saw the look on his face- "But if – it's something too personal or you don't feel like talking, I can leave?"

"No, no, no. I just didn't expect you to actually ask about it. It's nothing personal – really." She noticed the way his blue eyes were shining from the reflection of the moonlight. "It's my mother."

For some reason it made her insides clench, but she just waited for him to say something else.

But he laughed.

"It's actually personal, but it's not a problem to share it with one of my students. Even, though it's super creepy and awkward like you said."

"Yeah, it is." She agreed. "But like you said – we are humans. So…"

He smiled at her statement and nodded.

"She broke her leg while performing on stage. It's not something serious, but it made me realize how – alone and miserable I would feel if someday something… happens to her." She noted the way he adverted his gaze away from her to hide the vulnerability in his eyes. "Jeez, this sounded, so selfish."

"Anyways, my point is – that I don't want it to be like that. I wish at least my father was here, you know? I wish I had more people in my life."

All of the things he mentioned felt way too familiar to her.

"I know the feeling." She played with the zipper of her sweatshirt, staring down at her shoes. "Anyways, how is your mother now?"

"She claims to be alright, but I don't believe her. Although my mother is an actress. It's in her bloodstream." She smiled at his words.

He felt really strange sharing these things with her. Really. She was his student and that was kind of near the chance of crossing some lines. It was really wrong, but he needed it. He hasn't been talking with someone like this in a long time.

And she seemed to be calmer now. Maybe the thing that made her tense was him and his unstoppable questions. Yeah, probably.

"I consider in finding a new job." Her eyes widened in shock, hearing her Prof. say those words.

* * *

 **...To Be Continued...**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Thank you for the great comments and sweet things you say, guys! And thank you for being honest and telling me how to fix certain things. I am still learning. Enjoy.

 **Previously:**

"I consider in finding a new job." Her eyes widened in shock, hearing her Prof. Say those words.

* * *

She didn't get it.

All the students loved him and he had the best communication skills with them. And as far as she had noticed, he enjoyed teaching them, too. At least that was her first impression when she first got here.

He was entertaining and at the same time very strict and understanding. Kate learned everything perfectly in his lessons and he was making it, so easy to concentrate on what he was saying… - there's no explanation on how he was doing it.

And it's not only about the teaching, he was just a nice person.

Last week when Maddie slipped on something and hit her head, he immediately pushed through the crowd to help and called for an emergency. All the students were just staring, or taking photos of her laying on the floor. The internet was full with descriptions like 'If Prof. Rodgers would take care of me the same way…' or 'This is a dream come true for Madison Queller.'

They were pretty insensitive.

"You want to stop teaching?" She finally found herself asking and saw him shrug with the corner of her eye.

"I don't know anymore. I guess I just want something different than that. I'm not sure."

"Uhm - Is there a particular reason?"

"Maybe." Looking at her he noticed the way her eyebrows were gathered. He couldn't help, but wonder if she didn't want him to leave. Hmm...

"It's just, watching at you guys… all of you have goals in life. Already knowing what to do in life and – here I am teaching and when I look at myself in the future, I am at the same spot. I am frittering away my life. I want the things I do to have some kind of a result, you know?"

"Actually what you do has a really deep meaning for us." She admitted shyly and watched his eyebrows raise up. "For me."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You help, so many people in, so many ways. What you're doing is going to have really big results. Not now, but in future. All the people you've helped are going to be thankful to you, some day." Her voice was surprisingly steady.

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, but then it quickly disappeared. "Still. I feel like I need to do something else, I am still young. Hell, I even sometimes confuse myself as a student."

She laughed, because she did too on her first day.

"By the way when I first joined your class, I thought you were one of the students. I got really confused when you said you are our Literature teacher."

"Huh." He grinned.

"So Prof. Rodgers-"She started, but he rolled his eyes and she quickly closed her mouth. "What?"

"After this conversation I don't really feel like 'Prof. Rodgers'." He shook his head. "But, yeah – you must call me that. Rules are rules. I don't even know why I said -"

"I just don't know your first name." The arms around her knees tightened, because – damn it was getting really cold. And the wind was not helping, at all. But the beautiful view above them was worth it.

"That's right." He nodded. "My given name is Richard Edgar Alexander Rodgers."

"Richard." She repeated the syllables of his name. It nearly gave him goose bumps, hearing her saying it.

"Yeah, but I prefer people to call me Rick instead of Richard. My mother calls me Richard."

Kate chuckled, wondering what his mother looked like. She sounded like really bright and witty person.

He just stood there and studied her features. She definitely looked better than before. It was dark, but he could still notice how her bruises almost disappeared. And there was a sparkle in her hazel eyes, more life into them. Their long night talk is freaking him out, because for the first time she was actually okay with it.

And she kept on surprising him with questions.

"Anyways - Rick." She started shyly, looking everywhere, but at him. "What are you going to do?"

Taking a deep breath, he shrugged his arms again. "No idea. But I think I am going to wait for this year to end and see how things will go. On one hand, I really want to continue what I am doing right now, but on the other… I really want to spend some time for myself and decide on which path to go."

"Yeah, time will show." Her head bobbed twice.

Talking with him as a friend was actually pretty relaxing and nice. It wasn't like with other people. Wondering what topic to bring up, as if to not get too boring and silent. Their words were just coming out. And what reassured her most is that he wasn't asking any questions about her-

"Enough talking about me. Let's talk about you."

 _Great._

"There's nothing interesting about me." She cleared her throat and he smirked.

"Oh, really? Then it wouldn't be a big deal if I ask how are things going with Josh?"

Her mouth dropped open and then closed.

Actually, there wasn't anything, particularly with her and Josh. Well, yeah, they were closer than before, but they haven't been talking much about where they stand.

"There's nothing – we are not going out." Her cheeks heated up, rubbing the skin of her neck.

"Uh-huh." He shook his head playfully. "That's why you were holding hands during my lecture, right?"

Wait – what? He actually noticed that? It lasted for barely a minute and yes, they were holding hands, but she didn't know what it actually meant.

"Alright – I'm sorry for mentioning this. It clearly made you feel uncomfortable." Rick apologized and she softened a bit.

"It's not a big deal, I just really don't know where we stand right now."

It was the truth. A whole month they were doing the same things like – going out after lectures, letting him walk her home, hold hands sometimes, or kiss or two on the cheek. But nothing more than that. To be honest the timing for a boyfriend was not the best, right now. She had a lot bigger responsibilities on her mind to deal with.

A heavy breath next to her, made her snap out of her daydream. He was watching at his phone screen with a tiny frown on his face.

"It's almost midnight."

"Yeah." She mumbled.

"My mother must be asleep and her sitter – Olivia left me a message that she needs to go. I don't want to leave her alone for very long time, so I am going to head home." He explained, pushing himself up from the cold pavement.

Kate stood up after him, picking up her backpack sliding it on her arm. "I should go home, too."

He nodded, smiling down at her. "Let's go to the bus stop, then."

"Alright."

* * *

Entering the loft, he met with the sight of his mother lying on the couch reading some old fashion magazine. He expected her to be sleeping.

"Richard, darling." She closed the pages, shifting her gaze to him. "Where have you been?'

He felt like 17 years old again.

"Hello, to you, too mother." He waved and placed his jacket on the hanger, taking off his shoes next. "I was busy checking student's homework. Apparently it took me more time than usual."

His mother hummed and gestured him to sit on the opposite couch. His drained out form plopped down on the cushions with force, making it bounce slightly. His neck was hurting, so bad.

"You look awful." She noted and a chuckle escaped his lips.

"How is your leg?" He asked, standing up to check the fridge or any leftovers. He was starving.

"Oh, well. I don't see any difference from yesterday. It's good, kiddo, don't you worry about me." She smiled. "Olivia is a great company."

"I know you two are getting along, that's why I chose to call her first." Oh, yes. There were left pancakes. Cold pancakes. But with chocolate they were still pretty good.

"You shouldn't have, you know? I could've taken care of myself-"

"Nonsense, Mother." He spoke in assuring tone, dabbing chocolate on the pancake. "You heard what the Doctor said."

"Alright." She waved her hand in the air, opening her magazine again.

It was for the best. He wouldn't let his mother take care of herself. On her own. Even, though it was costing him a lot money to hire a sitter for his mother, he wouldn't let anything happen to her.

Being a Literature teacher wasn't one of the most well paid jobs. And he couldn't afford many things. Which led him back to his earlier conversation with Kate.

He smiled at the memory of them on the rooftop.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** I needed to pre-install my windows and stuff like this, so it took me longer than usual to update. I hope this chapter isn't too exaggerated. Thanks for the great comments!

* * *

Chapter Seven

The past three weeks were brighter than they usually were. On the previous day her father awakened hope in his daughter by sitting on the couch and actually having a normal conversation with her. It made her insides flip from excitement and faith that someday Jim Beckett will sober up and notice that she was still here, but she remained calm and enjoyed their talk as long as it lasted.

Most of the time it was him who was speaking. He brought old memories from the 1998 Major League Baseball All-Star Game which the three of them attended at the time. Jim, Johanna and Katie.

And that was the last time they went to watch a Baseball Game. Everything drastically changed for 10 months. Actually for one January night. No more traveling to Denver, Colorado with her parents to watch Baseball. No more family gatherings which Kate was annoyed by, and no more peace and repose of her soul-

"So?" Lanie demanded for some response and suddenly Kate realized that she was poking at her salad this whole time. She fell into some kind of trances and could not hear what people were saying.

"What?" Kate mumbled, looking around the lunch canteen.

"Seriously, I'm going to beat your cute bum cheeks if you don't pay attention to what I am sayin'." Her friend rolled her eyes and Kate couldn't help, but chuckle at her badass tone.

"I am sorry, could you repeat again?"

"I asked if you are going to Prof. Scheffler's birthday."

"Why would I go?" Her eyebrows gathered in confusion and once again her friend's eyeballs trundled.

"There are posters on the walls everywhere. Look." She pointed at the poster on the column in the middle of the canteen. "Everybody is talking about this. It'll be something like a mini prom. Dancing, food, drinks and all of it in the P.E salon, which will be transferred into the venue, how come you don't know about this?"

"I guess I didn't pay much attention." She shrugged, separating the piece of carrot away from the salad with the fork.

"So - are you coming?"

"I don't feel like it." She mumbled and this salad was awful, by the way.

"Oh, C'mon, live a little. It'll be fun and who knows – maybe your Josh Davidson will invite you for a dance." Lanie said in a playful tone, watching at Kate with convincing glare.

Actually the idea wasn't that bad. She could go and have some fun, but there were, so many things going on in her head – _ugh_. On the other hand, she knew that there wasn't anything particular from stopping her. She was just digging for a reason to not go. But why not live a little?

"Okay, fine."

Lanie squeaked in excitement making Kate hide her face behind the curtains of her hair.

* * *

The law is often seen as a difficult course, so for school leavers beginning legal studies, that small step can sometimes feel more like a giant leap.

And writing this assignment was hard on a whole new level.

She took an advanced legal research class where they have assignments due every class. Some seminars require a few papers as well.

It was a long time since she studied in her own room and it was kind of nice, instead of staying late at the library and then taking the bus all the way back.

Since her mother's death, she didn't pay much attention to her room. Mostly, because if she started tidying her room there was a huge chance to find something that will bring back the sad emotions. Not that she didn't want to think of her mom, she just wanted to distance herself from all of it. For a while.

Writing down on the blank pages, the corner of her eye caught the jar full of seashells standing at her desk. The seashells which her mom and dad collected on their walk to Coney Island in Brooklyn. This beach is probably the best-known among the beaches in New York City. It was her favorite one, although most of the time she was trying to get her skin tanned instead of swimming.

Now she wished she could turn back time and spend as much time as she could with her family.

Looking down at the hands holding the jar she almost dropped it at the loud noise coming from the living room. The moment she heard breaking glass and objects falling on the parquet, she immediately rushed out of the room.

Opening the door Kate met with the sight of her father with a Baseball bat, swaying from left to right. Face red from anger and too much alcohol in his bloodstream, his eyes fixed on her. There was shattered glass on the floor from one of the pictures, which was usually standing on the coffee table next to the couch. It was the picture of her mom and her dad on which both of them were smiling and Jim's arm was around her mother's shoulders. One of the few pictures they had was now laying on the floor.

Shattered.

Anger bubbled into her veins, making her step towards her father. But not too close. He was not adequate enough to trust his movements, so she kept herself distanced.

"You see that lamp? You – see that lamp, right here?" He spoke with a trembling voice, his whole body frame shaking with spewing rage.

"Dad-"She was cut off by her father, who clashed the lamp with the bat. Her eyes followed the pieces scattering in the air in slow motion, folding arms around her head in protection.

"It's gone, now!" Jim was now yelling, the veins on his neck protruding. "Everyding s' gone."

In moments like this she felt trapped in junction. Her heart rate was at full speed, feeling her pulse pound against her ribs. She wanted to run away from here.

Trying to avoid stepping on the broken glass all over the floor, she bent down to take the photo out from the frame. When her shaking hands were about to take it, she heard him coming closer to her. She could tell by the noise of little pieces, crushing under her father's height and shoes on the parquet.

"Don't touch this." He demanded, looking down at her.

Finally building some courage, she pushed herself up and glared at him in the eyes. Her own were red rimmed, holding back from letting the tears spill. The adrenaline was too big to cry, anyways.

"I am still here. You don't see it, but I am." She whispered and watched his knuckles go white around the bat. Her heart clenched in fear, but she kept going. "You took her death hard, dad. It's impossible not to, but she is my mother. I am hurting too, I'm falling apart and it's – killing me. What you're doing is going to take me away from you, too if-"

"Shut up." His hands tensed at his sides, hitting the baseball bat against his leg aggressively. "You don't know anything. You don't – you just can't imagine what I am going through-"

"I am going through the same. Stop thinking that everything does revolve only around you, think a little about others people pain. I am human as-"

"You are going through the same, huh? Did you know that every fucking time I look at you – I see her? It confuses me – It's a mess and hell, I can't look at you the same way anymore. You're not – I can't deal with this. There are too many things going through my head..." Weak tears were slipping out of her father's eyes, now. For the first time in months she saw him breaking down in front of her. Until now he was keeping everything in him, without saying a word. And now – he spilled it out.

 _He didn't want her anymore._

"You know what? You are being selfish, I can't help, but wonder what mom saw in you."

"I – am not selfish." He spoke through clenched teeth.

"Yes, you are. And it makes me loose every kind of respect for you. On the contrary it makes me hate you even more." As she was turning around to leave, he caught her by the wrist with impulsive grip almost breaking it.

"Give me back the photo."

"No."

"Give it, don't make me beg." He stepped dangerously close to her, making her insides flip in disgust at the smell of whiskey.

"Why, so you could destroy the last one we have from her?"

Without saying anything else, he twisted her arm, making his daughter shut her eyes closed in pain.

 _Turn. It's that simple_ , she thought, trying to find a way out of his grip.

She knew that swinging her elbow back at him could help to perform the move and will add bonus of a possible strike as she move out of the hold.

As she turned her hand that is being held, Kate moved away from his grip, thus reducing the leverage, while releasing the pressure applied to her arm. In a split second she faced him, but before she could do something about it - he crashed the metal bat in her ribs with full force.

This time she couldn't hold back and cried out in pain, stumbling backwards. She felt her bones cracking inside and her lungs tightening.

The lightly crushed photo fell from her sweaty palm and her father took it, torn it into quarters and then threw them in the air.

"It would have been much easier if you just gave me the photo, Katie."

As she was holding her throbbing arm around her ribs, trying to reduce the burning flames inside of her bones, she breathed heavily through her nostrils, letting a couple of tears to slip down onto her cheeks.

Taking one last glance in front of her - through blurry vision, she saw him swaying back to sit on the couch.

Gripping on her middle to keep her bones in place, if that even made sense to her – she made her way to her room. Unfortunately, she stepped on one of the glass slides, feeling it paving its way inside, cracking the skin of her foot. A grunt escaped her mouth, but the pain in her ribs was much more unbearable to pay attention to this.

Finally reaching her room, she shut the door, quickly locking herself and sliding down against it. Brushing her eyes against the sleeve of her shirt, Kate has now allowed herself to let out a shuddering sob. Which of course delivered much bigger pain in her middle. It made her feel like she could only take shallow breaths.

Starting to worry about it – her hands quickly pulled the hem of her shirt up to take a look at her left side. It was becoming redness, swelling and tenderness around the injured area. She needs to learn to keep her mouth shut for once.

Kate had experienced a lot of things like – getting hit by him, but getting broken ribs was her first time.

Considering on what to do – where to go and sleep, an uncertain idea came up into her mind. Bending forward to crawl on the ground, she reached for her backpack. Shuffling inside the pockets, she found the little piece of paper and stared at his handwriting.

 ** _Call in case you need help._** – And his phone number written on it.

Biting hard on her lip, she quickly dialed the number and pressed the phone against her ear. Taking shallow breaths she listened to the other line.

It beeped more than three times and she started worrying if it's not right decision to call him. Anxiety had built up inside of her figure thinking of what to say – or why the hell she was calling her Professor?

She didn't know what to say.

 _What if he was busy?_

What the hell was she thinking-

As Kate was about to hang up, she heard a rattling noise on the other end of the line, making her go completely still.

"Hello?"

Silence.

"Who is calling?" He spoke in confusion.

Oh God. What she was supposed to say? _Oh, hello. I just got beaten up by my dad and you said to call in case I need help – so here I am, calling._

Fuck.

Gathering some courage, she cleared her throat before speaking.

"Prof. Rodgers?" Her cheeks flamed up, because her voice came out way too hoarsely and breathy.

What the hell she got herself into?

* * *

 **...To Be Continued...**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** I want to apologize if there are a lot of mistakes. :( I wrote this chapter on my phone, because my computer is currently not working and I don't have any other device from which I can write. I hope you like this one.

 **Previously:**

Gathering some courage, she cleared her throat before speaking.

"Prof. Rodgers?" Her cheeks flamed up, because her voice came out way too hoarsely and breathy.

What the hell she got herself into?

* * *

 **Rick's P.O.V**

The hardest part for most writers, despite what people say, weren't getting published. Now, there are more opportunities than ever to become an author. No, it's not the publishing part they struggle with. It's the writing.

Once again, he was on the couch with laptop settled over his hips, typing.

And sitting on the couch wasn't one of the most inspiring and comfortable places to explore a story. It needed to be different from where you do other activities. The idea was to make this a special space so that when he enter it, to be ready to work on it. And most importantly to enjoy it.

From time to time he may have thought about making a small office, but the money was preventing him from a lot of ideas. And his loft was not one of the biggest.

It was all about the money.

Anyways, he pushed aside these thoughts for some other time, because now his phone was buzzing on the small coffee table, startling him.

Confusion crossed his features, because someone was calling him on his personal phone. Again. There was a moment of worry that it might be something about his mother, but then he remembered she is safe and sound in her bedroom reading a book.

Who could be calling him at 23:17PM? Maybe it was his mother's doctor calling to see how is she doing or something related to this. Why now?

Dragging the arrow to answer, he placed the phone against his ear. "Hello?"

Silence.

Maybe it's a prank or someone dialed the wrong number. But then he pressed the speaker closer and heard shallow breaths coming from the other line. He even pressed the buttons to increase the volume.

"Who is calling?" He managed to ask, but there was nothing from whoever it was. Pulling away the phone from his ear, he looked down at the unknown number. It wasn't hidden, which was good.

"Prof. Rodgers?" The moment he heard her voice, his whole body jolted upwards from the couch, nearly dropping the laptop on the floor and getting tangled around the charger.

 _It's her._

Sitting back down on the cushions he cleared his throat and spoke into the receiver. "Kate? Hey - are you alright?"

It was the first question that came up into his mind, because on first place he gave her his number in case she needs help. And yes. She was calling him, which meant only one thing.

"Not really." He heard her heavy breathing. And then a quiet sniffle, covered by a low fake chuckle. "Look, I am sorry. I shouldn't have called-"

"No, wait! Don't hang up." His free hand was gripping hard on his hair from worry. Fuck. She didn't sounded very good.

"Okay." She said weakly.

"Let's just talk?" Rick suggested calmly trying to make her comfortable with talking to him.

"I don't really know what to say." She whispered with trembling voice and he closed his eyes, imagining her, so small and broken. "I don't even know why I am calling my Literature teacher."

"Is there someone around you - are you alone?" He managed to ignore her last sentence.

"No, there s' nobody ." She sniffled again. "It's only me."

He considered about asking her things like 'How are you feeling now?', but he thought maybe it's going to better getting straight to the point. Without oversteering.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?"

As he was waiting for her to say something, an unexpected sharp breathtaking sob came from the other line, making his heart clench in suffer for her. He had to do something.

"I am sorry." She whined, through the sleeve of her blouse. "I can't stop it - the crying."

"Kate, it's okay." Rick assured her. "I am not going anywhere and I am going to listen you out. Just breath and focus on my voice."

 _Breath and focus._ She could do that, right?

"Imagine you are in my class, focusing on the lesson I am giving you." He joked slightly and noticed her breathing eased, hearing a low laugh escaping her mouth.

"Actually, I really want to be there right now." Her voice once again trembled in defeat.

Well he couldn't arrange this at the moment, but maybe there was something else he could do to help. And feel useful. By their whole conversation till now, he could tell she was scared. Really scared. Memory from the library spinned through his head, remembering her face when he slid his phone number on the desk. Back then Kate was frightened and horrified, but now she actually called. And something really bad must've happened to make her contact him.

"He hit me." She rushed out. "With baseball bat."

His eyes widened and his hair almost turned white.

"Kate-"

"My dad. He's an alcoholic." He was about to ask 'what about your mom?', but something held him back. "I was writing my assignment for tomorrow and then I heard breaking glass coming from the living room. Then I rushed out to see what's going..."

"And your father was there." He finished for her, filled with concern.

"Yes. Drunk." She sighed, taking a second to sniffle back the tears that were gathered, before continuing. "He broke one of our family pictures and one of the lamps, but most important - it's the picture I got angry about. I wanted to take it, to make him stop and listen to me. But he chose violence."

He chose violence. Rick couldn't even imagine in how big mental and physical pain she is, right now. And traumatized.

"Did he - used the bat on you?"

"Yeah." She answered truthfully.

"Where?"

"My left side. Ribs." His jaw clenched with worry. How could a father do this to his girl? "But it'll get better in a couple of-"

"Hell no. Kate your ribs - this is really serious. Fuck..." This was the first time he let himself curse during a conversation with a student. But now the circumstances were different. It was not about his job at all. He will not let her hide these bruises like the rest and pretend like it's not a big deal.

"Where are you now, is your father able to reach you?"

"No, I - ugh. I locked myself in my room. I don't know where he went."

"Stay there, don't go out." He told her constrainedly.

"I don't want to, I am scared." She admitted quietly, he could hear that she was still sniffling. Which meant that during their whole talk, she hadn't stopped crying.

He really felt like the most useless person on the universe. Kate was out there, alone and locked in an apartment. Stuck with an alcoholic who - not for the first time have beaten her up.

Maybe there was one thing he could do.

"Give me your address."

Maybe this was a little bit unexpected for her.

"What?"

 _Yeah._

"Look, you are in pretty bad condition - mentally and physically. You are in bad place and it's dangerous to be around your dad when he is completely out of his mind. You can't hide there, alone. Besides you may have broken ribs-"

"I don't want you to take me to a hospital - I can look after myself." Her voice raised a bit.

"I never said I will take you to a hospital."

"Well, it sounded like something that you would do..."

His lips curved into a little smile for a moment.

"No, Kate. I want to take you out of there."

"I don't have anywhere to go. Actually I can call Lanie-"

"This is something we'll think of later. Step by step."

"Okay." She agreed. "But I how am I going to get out without my dad noticing? I really don't want to meet him-"

"Just give me the address."

* * *

In the cab and his entire ride to her loft, they were on the phone speaking. He prepared and created a simple plan, explaining to her. Rick told her from time to time - waiting for him, to unremarkably open her door and see whether her father was asleep on the couch or not. Kate assumed he was already asleep, but she couldn't dare move, yet. Besides her ribs were hurting, so bad that if she tried to run or escape from him - well, she's not going to make it really far. Honestly, she is surprised that her teacher was actually going to come at her place and help her get out. It was crazy and at the same time really supportive.

She had no choice. This has been going for months and she really had to find some kind of cheap place to stay, until her graduation. Actually she had been staying till now, because with each passing day she hoped to see her father sobering up. But unfortunately there wasn't such an option for now.

"Hey, are you even listening to me?" Suddenly she came back down to earth and realized that she was still leaning on the door with the phone pressed hard against her ear.

"Yeah."

"I am getting in the elevator now - which floor?"

Kate explained to him the coordinates for her apartment on the phone, feeling her adrenaline rising up, knowing that soon she has to sneak out without making a single noise.

And yeah, he just announced that he was right in front of the door.

"What if he's not asleep?"

"Come on, Kate. You'll be on the phone with me the entire time. If something happens, I will break through the door and-"

"Alright, okay." She breathed heavily, standing up on her feet. Her hand was holding onto the door handle, supporting herself. Damn, her ribs. And her foot was bleeding from the broken glass. She could barely walk without supporting her weight on something. _But Rick was here._

Yes, Rick. Not Prof. Rodgers. He was more like a friend in this situation rather than teacher.

"I am going out."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Pressing the door handle down to open the door, it made a little cracking sound. Her heart rate was set on full speed, never tearing her glare away from the couch. She couldn't hear or see any sign of her father. The back of the couch was facing her room and she couldn't see whether he was there or not.

Waiting for a couple of seconds to pass, she opened the door more widely, so her body could sneak out. She knew that Rick was on the phone and right in front of her door, but for some reason the tension and the fear could not disappear.

"You can do this." She heard him speak on the line in assuring and rich with corroboration tone.

Her lungs took a long intake of breath, moving forwards. Her eyes were downed the entire time, as if to not step on some of the broken pieces and make noise. With her one hand she was holding tight onto the phone and the other was wrapped carefully, around her middle.

It felt like if she doesn't support her ribs with something the bones would fall. Every move and intake of breath were causing terrible pain, making her whole insides burn. On top of that her feet were bare and one of them was bleeding from the piece of glass stuck inside, leaving small drops after her on the parquet.

Finally, when she reached her goal - to get to the carpet, Kate started moving faster and more reliably. Walking on the carpet was much easier and noiseless.

In the meantime, Rick was outside of her apartment, busy with listening to every single noise. His fist was ready next to his side, in case he hears something that would make him break inside and give some lessons to her father. And this time they wouldn't be Literature lessons.

Seriously, who would do that? As far as he had noticed, she was the perfect daughter. Everything that every father would dream of. Smart, harmless, independent, studious and _breathtakingly beautiful_.

Alright, the last one is true, but he must be careful not to say it out loud. It's going to make her avoid him for the rest of her life. And there was something terribly wrong with having such thoughts, especially in a situation like this.

He managed to push these thoughts aside, because right now she needed someone's help. Someone's moral support, someone she could open herself to without any hesitation and he was willing to be that person. Teacher or no teacher, her life was more important.

His head immediately turned at the sound of the opening door, staring at the small gap between the door and the threshold. He waited patiently until she opened the door more widely and blue eyes met with a hazel red rimmed pair of eyes. He stopped breathing at the sight of her slim and limp body. There were tears streaming down her cheeks and she looked, so exhausted from life - it made him want to just get her someplace safe and make sure she's okay forever.

Kate was now bouncing on her bare feet quietly, closing the door behind her. His eyes studied her whole body frame. She was hunched and barely moving, because of the pain in her left side.

He felt helpless once again.

She looked up at him, propped against the wall, sniffling and holding hands securely around her middle. Rick stood there awkwardly, not sure what to do. _What now?_ Did Kate wanted to call somebody or maybe she changed her mind and wanted to go to the hospital, get her ribs checked? He doubted it.

Locking eyes with her, he realized that she was crying and shaking. His heart stopped at the sight of her, so small and tired of everything that she was allowing herself to cry in front of him. Usually she was the type of person who always hides when there's something. Struggling and coping all by herself, but now... He was here. And all he wanted to do is gather her in his embrace and tell her everything's going to be fine. But he couldn't. It wasn't right and she was deeply scared at the moment.

So instead he decided to take a slow step forward, closer to her and cleared his throat before speaking. "Hey, you did it. You're out and safe. I am not going to let your dad get to you again."

Somehow his presence and words made her feel better, but - the pain was still there. She extended her one hand to brush away the tears with the sleeve of her shirt and let out a shaky breath. "Thank you."

He heard her whisper brokenly and offered a weak supportive smile.

"Come on, let's get out of here." He nodded with his head towards the direction of the elevator.

"I eh - can you help me walk, I don't think I can-" Rick stopped her from talking by taking her one arm gently, wrapping it around his big torso. The next thing he was doing was placing his other hand around her waist, going under her arm, holding her weight protectively. The whole time she was following his movements with her eyes, feeling a little shy all sudden.

Their bodies were this close for first time and it felt kind of good and warm. But she was not supposed to get used to this feeling. _Nope._ But pointing out that his cologne was making her feel more secure in some way, wasn't too weird, right? Her heartbeat quickened at this realization and she wondered if he could feel her reaction to his embrace. She allowed her body to let go and take comfort in the support that he was offering her.

 _Relax, Kate._

"I already have a cab waiting for us outside. It's really close to the entrance, so you don't have to worry about walking too much." They started walking together towards the elevator. Kate was on his side, gripping hard on her teacher's waist and letting out small whimpers of pain.

They made it to the lobby with the speed of a turtle and then to the doors, which led them outside to the waiting taxi. Going out made chills go through Kate's body, feeling the cold air slip beneath her thin clothes. Oh, and the cold pavement under her feet was not helping, too.

On their way here Rick suggested to carry her, but she immediately refused, saying she could manage by herself. Picturing herself in her Professor's arms was not - right.

He helped her carefully to get to the back seats of the cab and settled inside right after her, closing the door quickly. It was the end of October, although it felt more like December. It was getting cold really quickly.

In the corner of his eye he noticed that Kate was shivering and freezing and quickly took off his coat offering it to her. She gave him a confused look, which by the way was adorable - the way her eyebrows knotted together and-

 _Stop it, right there._

Anyways, this time she decided to stop being stubborn for a moment and took the coat, wrapping it carefully around her slumped body. It was warm. And it felt like home.

The cab driver was looking at the scene in his back seats through the mirror with interest. After a beat, Rick realized that they're still not moving and snapped out of his daydream, telling the driver where to go.

Kate heard him say some kind of address, but it didn't sound familiar to her. It wasn't the address of the university and it was past midnight. So he wouldn't take her there, would he? Where were they going?

"Where are you taking me?" Kate blurted out in way too shaky voice from the cold, that it made the driver look at them with suspicion through the small mirror again. He must be having a lot of different scenarios inside of his head, right now. God, knows what they made him think.

"At my loft." Rick spoke calmly, eyes never meeting hers. Kate was trying to close her hanging mouth, looking with big horror written over her features at him. What did he mean by that? What the hell was this guy thinking? He was her fucking teacher and - but - fuck. This was crazy. How could he even think that she is going to actually agree to stay at his place? Is he insane or what-

"If it would make you feel more comfortable and acceptable with the thought of it, my mother is going to be there, too. There's an available room for you, which you can stay at until we figure out another place you could go to. But for now, I can't leave you go to your father's again. Your body went through enough physical pain and you need some break. Some warm meal, would be great, too." He spoke with his lecturing tone, still staring out of the cab window.

"Prof. Rodgers, I can't do this." She bit her lip nervously, feeling embarrassed. Her insides flipped, because she felt like a homeless person. And somehow it was like that. Living with Jim Beckett wasn't an option anymore. But - still... staying at her Literature teacher's loft was, too much? And she barely knew the man.

"Look, there's a TV and a couch in the living room. You can avoid sleeping if you want and stay on alert all night along - if that would make you feel better and safe. It's warm, you and my mother will get along. You can even order pizza, watch something on Netflix-"

Woah, adding his mother to this whole thing - honestly it didn't make her feel better. Actually, it made her feel more nervous than before.

"Can we go back?" She whispered and this time he turned his head to look at her. Something between concern and worry written over his face.

"Kate, you can't go back there. Not after everything - you're barely standing on your feet. You can't defend yourself."

"I can - I just can't get the courage to hit someone, especially my dad." She said, twisting her hands in her lap. The cab driver once again raised his eyebrows sharing a glance at their direction.

"It's not about courage - it's about the fact that you might have broken ribs and infected foot. And you are actually considering on getting back there where is much more dangerous, instead of coming at my loft - for just one night. It's safe and it's not like we are going to be alone, you know - awkward and creepy. My mother will stick around, besides she has broken foot, too. You're perfect for each others company.

This time his words made her feel a little bit better and convinced. Maybe it was not going to be, so bad. She could just stay up all night on his couch and then leave when the sun shows up. But then the thought about her having no shoes and clothes, made her rethink everything. Oh. She could call Lanie to come somewhere near and bring shoes and clothes with her. She could do that, right?

"Alright." She spoke quietly and he smiled with something like victory.

"Well, in that case, you better not call me Prof. Rodgers in front of my mother. It will get a little weird and she'll never drop it." She watched his face go adorably with something like annoyance and a little laugh escaped her mouth. Surprisingly, this time it didn't make a burning friction inside of her bones.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

* * *

On their way from the cab to his apartment she nearly fainted three times, scaring the shit out of him. It made him grip harder on her, just in case she slope down on the floor. Kate said she hasn't been eating from yesterday and he prepared himself to make her the best sandwiches when they get inside.

Taking away his hand from her waist to take out the keys, he opened the door and met with full darkness, frowning. He thought (hoped) that his mother would be still awake, so someone could be Kate's company and make her feel more comfortable. Looks like he was going to be the one doing that. Not that he didn't want to - it's just, what if she doesn't want him to?

Instead of thinking about it, he gestured for her to support herself on him and led them inside, turning the lights on and kicking the door closed behind them.

She looked around and it was actually pretty beautiful and tidy. There was a living room united with small kitchen and dinning room, lightened by a crystal chandelier. It was warm and she was still shaking, barely standing on her feet.

"Come on, let's get you to the couch." He moved forward with her and when they reached it, he held her by the elbows to help her sit down. She leaned back against the soft cushions and felt jolting pain in her ribs, making her breathing get shallower.

"I am going to get you some things to warm you up and bandage for your foot." He was about to turn and leave, but she interrupted him.

"There's no need - really. I am fine."

"You are everything, but fine." _Oh, well yeah._ This one hurt a little bit, but it was the truth. "If we don't clean it, it'll get infected."

"But-"

"I'll be back in a second." He announced already halfway to what was supposed to be his bedroom.

This man wasn't listening to a word she is saying, was he?

Waiting for him on the couch, made her think about everything that happened the last couple of hours. And this day was horrible. Everything was just fine and she thought that maybe there's a chance for things to get better, but - no. It was like she was meant to be miserable. Every time she was trying to escape from the black hole, something catches her by the ankles, dragging her back down.

 _Alright, I'll just stay miserable._ Is that what she was supposed to say? Maybe she'll have to accept this way of life and get used to it.

Within a couple of minutes he returned with a fluffy blanket, pillows, gray sweatshirt and socks on top of them. Well, she couldn't really say no to these, her whole body was numb.

He placed them in a pile next to her and then she saw him disappear again. When he came back with a box and crouched on the floor in front of her, confusion crossed over her features.

"Give me your foot." Rick looked up at her expectedly.

"What why?" Her eyebrows knitted together.

"Isn't it obvious?" He showed her the first aid kit.

"Yeah, but I can do it by myself. Besides there is dirt all over my feet, I don't think it's a good idea for you to-"

"Kate." He placed his palm on her kneecap, making her completely still and when he realized what he just did, his hand immediately moved like he was scalded. No touching. Alright. "I just want to help and it doesn't matter to me how dirty your feet are. On the contrary, it makes me do it even more, because it will get infected. Just limit yourself from doing much activity tonight and let me do the things for you."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" She looked down shyly at him, chewing on the inside of her cheek.

 _Adorable._

"I am being absolutely honest and sure." He straightened up his neck, waiting for her foot.

Finally, she agreed and lifted her leg up from the floor, placing it in the cradle of his hands. He held her foot like a kitten's paw, so gentle and careful. It made her trust him with this. And maybe _other_ things.

He followed the dried traces of blood coming out from the wound and it was a little hard to see where it was coming from, because of the dirt mixed up with the blood. Taking some cotton with hydrogen peroxide, he started cleaning it. His strokes with the cotton were, so light as if to not hurt her - that it tickled her and she bit her lip to keep herself from squealing.

The wound was a little deeper than he thought and searched for the flashlight app on his phone. "You can put the sweatshirt on if you are cold."

Oh, yeah she was cold indeed.

Taking the large sweatshirt, which she assumed is his (it smelled like him), she pulled the zipper under her chin and shoved her hands in the pockets. But she didn't put the blanket, yet.

He turned the flashlight on and found the shining, crystal peak of the glass. Within three minutes he gently took out the middle-sized piece with tweezers, placing it in the used cotton to throw it in the trash.

During the whole take-out-the-glass-out-of-Kate's-foot operation, she felt only light jolt of pain making her flinch, but it quickly faded away.

"Did I hurt you?" She opened her eyes to look down at the man crouched in front of her, his eyes filled with concern.

"No, you did great. It's just - my foot got used to having a piece of glass inside and now it's kind of uncomfortable without it." She said and he chuckled adorably in return.

"Besides my feet are numb and it kind of reduces the pain. I can't even wiggle my fingers." This time it was her turn to laugh.

"I just have to put you some bandage and we'll put some socks on to get you warmer." He explained sweetly, while bandaging her foot carefully, trying to make it perfect for her. Not too loose - not too tight, either. In the meantime, she was glaring down at him and he was, so caught up with the idea to make her feel better - it warmed her heart. For the first time someone was so determined to help and offer her a hand for support.

"It's done. You can put socks now, but be careful not to move the bandage." He stood up to gather the used materials from the floor, putting the medications back in the first aid kit.

"Thanks." She tried to put on the socks (his socks - they were too big to be his mother's) and groaned at the sudden wave of pain in her ribs when she leaned forward to reach her feet.

Without even having the chance to ask him for help - "Let me." He took the socks from her hands and bend down to slide them over her small feet. She leaned back against the couch and breathed heavily.

"I can't even put some socks on - I am useless."

"Hey, no. You're just tired and beaten up by your dad, no one can be in a good shape after something like this. I assume you didn't fed yourself good and by the circles around your eyes I can tell you haven't been sleeping well, too. It's totally normal and that's why I'll give you some warm tea and meal, now."

"How did you even-"

"I notice things." He smiled kindhearted and moved one of the pillows in the corner of the couch. "By the way, you'd feel more comfortable and relaxed if you scoot closer to the corner of the couch."

She only nodded, because it really seemed better this way and pushed herself backwards in the end of the couch with her feet against the mattress. Finally settling over and leaning down against the pillow, she closed her eyes for a moment and opened them only when she felt him sprawling the blanket over her small body.

Her cheeks flamed up at his sudden gesture and he quickly distanced himself a little bit from her, looking at the kitchen.

"I'll uhm - go make something."

And he vanished.

* * *

When he came back with tray in his hands, he expected her to be already asleep, but instead he met with the sight of her looking sadly down at her phone.

"Everything okay?" Rick asked making her turn to look at him, worry written over her face. He placed the tray with food and tea on her lap and sat on the other end of the couch next to her feet.

"Yeah." She mumbled, taking the cup of tea to take a sip. Gulping down the warm liquid, she felt it travel down her throat and settle down in her stomach. He looked at her through narrowed eyes and she chewed on the inside of her cheek.

"I am worried about him." She admitted.

"About your father?"

She nodded at him, looking down at the sandwiches he made. They looked and smelled delicious. Her appetite grew all of sudden.

"Is this - alcoholic thing a regular one or it's something new?" He couldn't help, but get a little curious and ask.

"Um, I could say it's more like a new thing, but it's a long story." She avoided looking at him and tried one of the sandwiches instead. "It wasn't like this before. He had a job - lawyer. He is a good person, I don't want you to have the impression he is bad."

"I don't know. The only thing I know is that he does a really bad thing to his daughter. Whatever happened, it's not fair to you." His arms shrugged.

"It's not that bad."

"Not that bad?" His eyebrows gathered in disbelief. "Are you saying there was worse?"

She didn't say anything and just looked down at her lap, biting hard on her lip. Thinking about her father doing worse things than hitting her with a bat, made his whole insides flip in anger. But she didn't deserve this. And he didn't react properly. She doesn't need someone reminding her of the bad things, she needed support and someone to rely on.

Maybe he had gone too far on this one?

"I am sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"It's okay." Her lips turned up into a weak smile, sighing. "Thank you for caring."

"You don't have to thank me for this, I did nothing."

"To me, it's not nothing." Her hazel eyes looked up into his blue one's shyly, wondering how on earth someone like him could exist.

"I am glad you called." He admitted.

"Um - thinking about it actually, makes me regret it a little bit." She watched him frowning. "Not that you did something wrong, it's just - I didn't want you to see this. I hate dragging people into my mess."

"You didn't drag me _into it_ , I volunteered." He said in return.

Kate just shrugged and looked everywhere, but at him. She was embarrassed, he could tell. He needed to fix this.

"I am staying at my Professor's place, it's not properly and regularly thing that everybody does around the world. You know?"

"Yeah, I completely understand. But maybe if you look at it from another angle - there's nothing bad and wrong with it. Humans, remember?" He spoke softly expecting her to look at him, but her shoulders were still slumped down.

"If I retire any second and get another job, would you feel better?"

"Woah, wait - don't do this-"

"I am not going to - well not now, but the point is that there is nothing wrong with helping each other. There are just some rules saying that I am a teacher. But that doesn't make me any different from you and the others."

He had a point.

"Yes, but still - I hate making people deal with my things. Teacher or no teacher, it's still embarrassing." Finally, she looked up at him, eyes full of hesitation and worry.

"Look at me as a friend." He suggested, raising an eyebrow. "Just imagine I am Lanie and get over it."

She laughed at that and rolled her eyes.

"Lanie can't make such a great sandwiches, though."

"True, it requires rare talent for doing such things." He smirked proudly.

"For what? Putting cheese over ham?" She took a bite after teasing.

"Funny." His lips curved into a small funny pout. He was like a child sometimes. And it surprised her how easily he can change from serious one to a completely different mood. Everything in him started to surprise her with each passing day. In a good way, of course. "Now back to the point - I don't want you to feel embarrassed."

"I'll try." She swallowed the last piece of sandwich among with a little sip from the tea, feeling a lot better with a full tummy.

"And I want you to know that you can always tell me if there is something wrong. _Always._ Without any hesitations and what if's. Just keep that in mind, okay?" He patted the end of the blanket where her ankle was supposed to be and smiled softly.

"Okay." Her head bobbed twice at him and Rick stood up to take the tray away in the kitchen.

"Now, get some sleep." He turned to glance one last time at her form in his couch. She looked better now after the food. Her face was no longer pale, but the dark circles were still there and she needed to sleep. " I am going to be in this room, over here in case you need something."

She nodded at him and he flicked the lights off, the room illuminated only by the moonlight coming from the window.

And then the last thing she heard was the click of the shutting door, making her finally close her eyes and try to sleep.

* * *

 **Thoughts?**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** Sorry for not updating more regulary, but school is crossing my path to fanfiction, lol. :c

* * *

 **Three weeks later**

She was drunk, but she was not drunk enough to like and approve what they were doing.

Her back was pressed up against the cold wall near to the salon, (which was turned into a venue – more like a room full of horny and drunk students) by him. It felt like someone from the students had a birthday party today, rather than a teacher.

Back to the make out session - he was entirely focused on every body part he could reach and touch. Their tongues were battling for dominance, exchanging salvia and breaking only for a second when they needed to take a breath.

Josh stopped for a moment and slumped down a little to attach his lips to her neck. All of this was supposed to be feeling good and arousing, right? The only thing she felt was the heavy smell of whiskey, caress the air between them.

Her neck was tilted upwards to look at the ceiling, wondering what on earth she got herself into. Josh took it as an enticement and continued to make wet paths on the exposed skin with his tongue, making her insides clench of disgust.

 _This wasn't right._

The thought of him has never awakened huge excitement and turmoil in her. This was never supposed to go this far.

"Josh?" She whispered, trying to pull him back a little, but he was too concentrated on leaving a hickey.

"You feel, so good." He murmured against her skin. Okay, this sounded way too dirty. _Fuck-_

His hand traveled down, stroking upside down, her tight trying to wrap it around his waist.

 _Okay, this was not okay._

"Stop." She nudged him again by the shoulders, making him frown up at her. But then a smug smirk appeared on his face.

"Oh." He shook his head, laughing at her. "You're scared of getting caught – alright, let's go to somewhere else then?"

Obviously there was too much alcohol in his bloodstream. And all of this was her fault. She should've had predicted this instead of returning on the shove of his tongue into her mouth.

He took her hand firmly, starting to drag her in the direction of the exit, but she gently removed her arm from his grip, stopping.

"I am not going anywhere." Her fists clenched at her sides, when he took a step back to her. Dangerously close to her.

"What's wrong with you?" His eyebrows knitted together.

"Nothing - nothing's wrong with me, I just don't think it's the right time and place for this." Her shoulders shrugged. "And you drank too mu-"

He framed her face with his hands aggressively, kissing her on the lips. She gasped in pain when he gripped on her still non-healed side and shoved him away from her. When he was about to try for another attempt, her palm collided with his cheek, making him groan in pain and hopefully sober up a little. She didn't mean to hit him this hard, but – it just happened.

She watched as Josh's nostrils widened and for a second there she thought he was going to hit her back, but he only laughed. He laughed? How any of this was funny?

"You're virgin, aren't you?" He was shaking his head and making a ticking sounds with his mouth.

"How come any of this is your business?" She snapped her jaw dropping in irritation and resentment.

"S' alright. I didn't expect otherwise from you anyways. It's obvious."

"What do you mean by this – why would it be obvious?" She felt insecure all of sudden and wrapped her hands around her middle.

 _This was awful._

Seriously, why she was even asking questions or talking with him? None of this is necessary, she could've just walked away. Without dealing with him...

"Look at you." Were the only three words that left his mouth and then he was leaving. Kate stood there on the verge of breakdown.

Normally she wouldn't care, but for some reason this was too much. _Look at you._ It awakened self-doubt in her, making her wonder if he was just being rude and drunk or there was really something wrong with her.

* * *

Dancing couples, loud music, drinks. Teachers and students were enjoying themselves. Especially his colleague, Prof. Scheffler, who was turning 37 today. He had a beer belly and he was already on the third bottle. Not for first time, obviously.

Rick scoffed at himself and ate the last of his ketchup chips, drinking some soda to swallow it. He was not going to drink anything else, this night like everyone else did. He had to be the sober one, who offers a hand to the sinking in the inadequate ones.

Eyes darting through the crowd, he loosened his tie a little bit.

It was really hot in here.

Taking off his jacket and dragging up the sleeves of his button up, he unconsciously listened at the lyrics of the running song.

 _Oh, oh, oh._

 _There's nothing my love can't fix,_

 _For you baby,_

 _I'm going to be your first and last_

 _Just touch me there…_

 _There's nothing my love can't fix,_

 _For you baby._

Grimacing at the big level of foolishness in this song, he rubbed his temples and wondered what kind of a bighead would write this. The text was stupid. And meaningless.

Oh, well the melody wasn't, so bad...

After 3 more knobs of dumb songs, he decided to freshen up a little bit. Pulling the jacket over his shoulder, he made his way out of the thrumming salon and found the stairwell.

He had never been this type of person who likes to party twenty four seven and have "fun". He didn't like this type of fun. It was stupid, but he was here only, because of his buddy's birthday. Besides all the teachers were here, even the oldest one – Mrs. Robinson. It would be too obvious he is the only one not-attending.

Pushing the rooftop door open, he expected to meet with emptiness. But – there was someone there. And he had in mind who this 'someone' could be.

 _Her._

The last time he saw her was the night she stayed at his loft. Unfortunately on the next morning he found the couch empty. The blanket he gave her for the night was simply folded and left on top of the pillow.

Back then he decided to just let it be. She was old enough to make her own decisions and choose which is good and which is bad. But of course he couldn't just forget about it and decided to leave her a message, making sure she is alright.

She replied with a simple **'I'm okay, thank you for letting me stay.'** And she hasn't been on lectures since then.

Three weeks.

But the big question was… is his mind playing tricks on him or it was really her?

Her hair was tied up in a messy bun and she was wearing black short dress with a high hemline. Even from the back, she was stunning.

 _What did he just think?_

Kate's form was so small in the dark and she was way too close to the edge of the roof. It made him swallow in worry.

She wasn't thinking about – doing something stupid, right? He believed she was brave enough, but there was still a little bit uncertainty in him.

Standing still, he looked more carefully and noticed that her shoulders were slumped and shaking violently. There was a hand around her middle as if to slow down her shallow breaths.

She was crying, alone, on rooftop, during a party.

"Kate?" He spoke quietly from a distance, making her turn on her heels and look at him. Seeing him made her lose any kind of control and her sobs intensified. She didn't know why, but every time Rick was around her, he made it hard to not express her vulnerability.

"Hey, - don't..." Her face was now hidden behind the curtain of her hands in embarrassment.

He couldn't stand there and just watch as she was falling apart. Screw the rules. Fuck everything – she needed someone, right now.

Without thinking about it, he approached her and gently enfolded her shaking body in his arms and solid sternum. He squeezed gently then firmly letting her know that he cares.

And that he'll never stop.

At first she was stiff and tense around him, but then she returned the embrace by wrapping her thin hands around him.

She was enveloped by his warmth, melting into him. Closing her puffed eyes, made the noise from the city stop and fade, loosing track where her body stops and his begins. She felt safe and comfortable like in a perfect dream. No worries no fears, just serenity.

The whole time he was stroking her back in tiny circles, sending chills through her body. He listened at her breathing and observed how her cries dwindled and turned into sniffling sounds.

"Better?" He whispered into her ear, softly.

"Yeah." Her head bobbed twice, face buried in his shoulder blade. "Thank you – again." She mumbled in croaky voice.

"Uh – huh." He pulled back for a moment, making her shiver without the warm body of his, pressed against hers. Taking the jacket, which was still hanging on his shoulder, he placed it over her arms. She gladly tugged it more closed and smiled through watery eyes.

"Wanna dance?" He smirked and intertwined his fingers with her cold and soft ones. Kate looked down at their clasped hands and for a moment he was worried if she might reject him – but she surprised him by hugging him again and swaying a little in modest and shy dance.

He leaned his head against hers, feeling the smell of cherries caress the air between them even, though it was windy. It was coming from her hair and he unnoticeably pressed his nose closely to establish this new scent.

It was so addicting. They shouldn't get used to this. But this once they could just let it be and hold each other.

"How is your mom?" She asked, dancing with him in a little circle.

"She's good. They took off her cast a month ago. The doctor said she needs to be careful from now on and minimize any heavy activities."

"I'm glad she's okay, though."

"Thank you." He didn't know why he was thanking her. Maybe because she was upset about something in her own life and still – she was wondering about his mother. It made his heart melt how extraordinary she was.

He didn't expect this kind of concern from her in this kind of situation.

But he didn't expect her next words, either.

"My mom died ten months ago."


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** Yesterday I had a birthday - woooop - woooop. Enjoy your chapter!

* * *

 **Previously:**

 **My mom died ten months ago.**

She wasn't crying when she said it. Her voice was weak and shaky, but she wasn't crying.

The only thing she felt was his whole body tense around hers. His arms tightened around her middle, very slightly, brushing his ear against her wet cheek.

"We were supposed to go to dinner together - my mom, my dad and I. And she was going to meet us at the restaurant but she never showed." Her forehead was pressed against his shoulder blade, speaking with closed eyes. Her eyes burned, but she kept on going. Honestly she expected him to ask and say something, but he was quite the opposite. On the contrary he was just listening and giving her the ability to open up and share it with him.

It surprised her.

His hand continued stroking her back, indicating that he is going to hear her out.

So she continued after the little intake of cold, fresh air. "Two hours later we went home and there was a detective waiting for us, Detective Raglan. He told us they found her body. She had been stabbed in an alley. I – never thought that…" Her voice twisted at the end, taking a pause to calm down her emotions. "The morning I woke up and she was there making breakfast with my dad, I never thought that would be the last time-"

It didn't took him long to notice that she was sobbing quietly, hidden in his chest. His jaw clenched in sadness and grief for what she had experienced the past months. She was so young and abandoned. And this whole time she was hiding it, keeping it inside – without telling anyone. It was shattering.

Not to mention it was still, so fresh. Ten months – it was really recent. On top of everything, her dad turned into alcoholic who is having inclinations to aggressiveness. And Kate was his victim the whole time.

Instead of being with her, loving her, showing her that she is not alone and that he was still there – it was reversed. She was the one trying to show him that she is still there, trying to survive.

But he was too bogged down and sunken to pay attention.

"Did they found who did it?" He asked quietly, stroking her hair in encouragement.

"No." She shook her head. "They attributed it to gang violence. Random wayward event, they just tried to package it up nicely, and the killer was never caught."

He felt bad for the fact that a month ago when they were on the rooftop again, he was lamenting about how he does not want to be alone someday. And this whole time she was experiencing this. He was such a fool.

"I am sorry I ruined your night, I should probably-"

"Hey, no - you didn't." He pulled back slightly to look down at her, but her head was bowed insecurely. Taking a risk he gently framed her soft cheeks with his palms, making her heart thrum frequently against her ribs at his peaceful motion. "Look at me."

She did.

And he took a second to observe her beautiful face. There was barely illuminating lamp on the roof, but he could still see the ruined mascara and the curves of her cheekbones. Her gaze met with his and her eyes widened at the sight of his blue ones red rimmed.

"You're crying." Her eyebrows knitted together.

"Yeah, I am." He chuckled, which made one simple tear roll down on his cheek. "And you didn't ruin my night; actually you made it pretty special. You trusted me enough to share something like this, thank you."

"Well, you make it easy." Her arms simply shrugged.

"Listen, Kate…" He sighed, taking a second to swallow the lump in his throat. "I think I've already mentioned this, but – you can always tell me if you need help. I mean things like finding a place to stay, clothes, food, money and this kind of supplies."

"You know I can't do that." Her cheeks flamed.

"Yeah." He nodded sadly. "But I would love to help in some way."

"You already did." Her lips curved into a shy smile.

"Feels like I need to do more." They were no longer hugging, otherwise it would get awkward, but they were standing in front of each other. She was still wearing his jacket. "Are you sure you don't need something?"

"I am sure and actually these past three weeks, I uh was working in one coffee shop. I am still working, though – so I could find a place to rent." His eyebrows rose at her confession.

"You did, you uh – do?"

"Yeah, um I know it's going to be hard – studying and working, but I think I can manage."

"I am sure you will. This is great!" His beautiful white teeth showed from smiling too widely. He was happy for her and that she finally decided to do something about the situation with her father. It wouldn't be very easy for her, but he believed she is strong enough to handle it. "But where are you staying until you find a place?"

"I am staying at Lanie's."

"Oh." So that's where she went after she left his loft. "Does she know – about your dad?"

"Not really. I told her that we had an argument and I need to distance myself from him for some time." She bit on bottom lip. "But Lanie noticed my state… It's pretty obvious it was more than an argument, but she didn't push me about it."

"That's good." His cold lips curved into a smile. "How are your ribs now?"

"Better, much better."

He only nodded, glad that she is okay. And then they just stood there in silence. It was windy and the sky was flashing from approaching thunders.

"It seems like it's gonna be a stormy night." He mumbled, tilting his neck upwards to look at the tempestuous sky. She glanced at where he was staring and there was big thundery cloud forming above them.

"I – uh we better go inside, actually I think I am going to leave. It's getting late anyways." Kate said.

"Me too, it's not like I have something to do here."

She chewed on the inside of her cheek and looked up at him.

He was nervous about something, she could tell…

"Walk you home?" He suggested with wide eyes and shrugging arms, like he was expecting some kind of big rejection, but could see only surprise in her eyes. "Of course, if – Josh is here and he can-"

"I am not with Josh." She cut him off with a little shake of her head. "And thank, but you really don't have to. Actually, I took long enough from your time…"

He scoffed.

"This whole evening was so exasperatingly annoying and tedious, until I – eh met you here."

"Yeah." He heard her mumble quietly and noticed the tension hanging on the air between them.

"It's not going to be a big deal, just – walking you home. Otherwise I would feel worried at the thought of you, alone at this hour. At least take a cab?"

"It's just that I don't live at _home_ anymore. I am staying at Lanie's, remember?"

"Well in that case, we could go together to the bus stop and from there I'll take the subway? It would be easier for me, too." He offered a smile and she chewed on her already bruised (from biting) lip.

"Alright, but – we, not – we aren't doing anything wrong, but let's not make it obvious that my teacher and I… are taking the bus together. People just love making up things and it-"

"It's alright. I know another exit from the stairwell." He was already turning his back to her at the direction of the rooftop door. "Let's go, it's already starting to rain."

She didn't notice, though.

* * *

"Come on, run faster!" He heard her yell from distance, somewhere ahead of him.

They ran the whole way from the university halfway to the bus stop, without any break. Well, Kate was the one to blame for his refusing lungs. Damn it, she was fast!

"Kate, wait." He tried to shout through the loud thunders and see the silhouettes of her body somewhere in between the massive rainstorm.

Suddenly she appeared in front of him.

"What – why?"

"I need a break." He breathed out, tiredly and she chuckled, wiping the water from her face.

"We're going to get soaked, we have to-"

"We are already soaked, there's no point in hiding from the rain anymore." He looked up at her with a big frown written over his face.

"We are very close to reaching the bus stop, besides I don't want to get sick and cold from this."

"I told you I could pay you a cab."

He expected some kind of response from her, but when he looked forward she was already walking away from him.

A big thunder flashed near him and he flinched, looking up at the angry clouds.

"Okay, I get it." He mumbled at himself and then said to the stubborn student "Just slow down a little!"

They started sprinting through the big rain drops again and this time she was loping slowly next to him.

 _Poor man._

He was just making sure she is safe and alright and at least she could do is keep up with him.

"We can walk now, its right there." She spoke breathy at him and pointing at the bus stop, watching as relief crossed his features.

"Finally." He exhaled heavily and he heard Kate laugh next to him. Well, at least he was making her laugh. Which was pretty great.

They walked quickly and reached their point, hiding under the shed of the transparent bus stop.

They moved in the corner of it, hiding from the windy and heavy raindrops.

"Are you cold?" She heard him asking and noticed with the corner of her eye that he was looking down at her.

"No." She lied, even though she was holding hands around her middle for warmth. "Are you?"

She watched him shake his head and perceived the way his hair was slumped down over his forehead. It was adorable. Not to mention that his clothes were soaked (and hers, as well) and they were clinging into his skin. Unfortunately his shirt was not translucent.

Rick noticed that she was looking up at him in interesting way and he couldn't help but ask insecurely. "What – is there something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong." She mumbled shyly. "I – uh wanted to thank you."

His lips were about to part to say something, but she held up her hand to interrupt him. "Let me finish."

His head bobbed twice, looking expectedly at her.

"It's not the perfect place and time for saying this, but – I really am… thankful. And I am not just saying it, I really mean it. What you did for me… honestly you were the last person I thought – that would offer me help and support. You make it all, so easy!" She smiled sweetly at her last sentence, shrugging with her arms.

"I always will, Kate." Maybe his words brought too much weight into her heart, but it felt good. And maybe _right_?

"Why?" She found herself asking.

He cleared his throat nervously and looked at the hour panel.

One minute left, until her bus was coming.

Maybe he was insane, but there was only way for this.

She looked at his direction at the panel and her eyebrows knitted together. What was he looking at? Didn't he listen at her question?

Her neck titled back towards him and his blue eyes were directed back at hers. With everything surrounding them – the rain in the background, the flashing thunders, the passing cars and people – he gained courage.

Before she could comprehend what is going on, he was framing her face with his cold hands. And their bodies were close. Like – really close. She could feel his fresh breath caress the air between them.

"Wha-" All of sudden she felt pair of cold and soft lips pressed against hers. It was just a simple press, but it felt – like _everything_. She breathed surprisingly through her nose, placing her hands over his, which were currently on her cheeks.

He thought that she was going to push him away or slap him, but… on the contrary she responded to the kiss by pressing her mouth a little harder to his.

His heart rate was highly unhealthy at the moment.

When she pulled away, he opened his eyes and – she wasn't looking scared or frightened. There was just surprise glittering in her eyes.

The next thing he knew is that her bus was here and she was jogging towards it to get inside, before the doors get closed. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and watched as the transport vehicle drove away from the majestic bus stop.

Meanwhile, Kate found a place to take a sit and placed hands over her heated up cheeks.

 _Shit._

What the hell just happened?

Obviously, she didn't see that coming.

Looking down at her soaked self, she noticed that she forgot to give back his jacket.

 **Soooo, finally a kiss! What do you think? : D Have a nice day.**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** This chapter is a little bit boring, but I think you'll like where I am heading for the next chapters. *smirk*

* * *

The thought of getting kissed by her teacher didn't bother her much, until the next morning.

Kate woke up from abdominal pain, which felt like when she was on her period.

Like cramps.

But she had already experienced this last week. She couldn't be on her period, again – could she? Was this even possible?

Tearing herself from Lanie's spare room bed, she stood up with a little grunt and headed for the bathroom to get ready and go on lectures.

Taking a hot and relaxing shower didn't decrease the odd sensation in her abdomen. Which was weird, because there was no particular reason.

Except that maybe it could be from panic...?

But why?

Oh – well…yeah, maybe there was a very particular, certain, specific and actual reason for all of this.

The unexpected and inexplicable kiss.

By her Literature Professor.

Yesterday everything seemed fine to her. Maybe not exactly fine, but exciting. Not a big deal. Until her mind started building numerous of puzzling and brain blowing questions, which made her freak out a little bit.

 _A little bit._

First of all she started wondering what was his intentions and what he meant by this. Then the next thing that carried the whole 'shit-what-am-I-going-to-do' situation was the thought of someone seeing them.

Or that if she shares it with someone and they accidentally spit it out in front of people, which would lead to university administration penalties, people laugh and gossip at her-

Things like that.

That's why this morning she tried to avoid her friend as much as possible and keep her mouth shut during their breakfast. Kate resisted on eating, telling Lanie she is not hungry, but of course her friend rolled her eyes saying "We are both having math, so why don't you settle down your butt and wait for me to finish my breakfast, so we could go together to lectures."

"Fine." Kate mumbled and ate some of the grapes from the bowl, which was right next to her on the table.

On their way to the university she prayed and hoped to not meet Prof. Rodgers today, which was impossible and ridiculous, because she was having literature in her program.

Screwed. That she is. For sure.

When the vehicle stopped and they made their way out through the doors, Kate looked at the transparent bus stop from the previous night and swallowed the lump in her throat. In the meantime Lanie was babbling next to her about the math exam date which was coming, without even noting her friend's odd behavior.

Thankfully...

* * *

Gathering her things and supplies for the lesson she closed her locker and turned to leave, but not for first time a big frame crashed into her.

"Sorry – I didn't meant to..." He caught her by the elbows to help her gain some balance. When she realized who is in front of her, Kate immediately took her hands off from his grip and pinched her lips in straight line.

Without even bothering to look at him, she turned around to escape, but Josh caught her by the arm.

Seriously, what was his problem? Couldn't he just leave it and do something else? Probably not.

"Katie?"

She turned to stare up at his face. And honestly...until now she hadn't realized how disgusting he was. Everything about him was terribly….wrong and not nice after yesterday.

"Don't call me Katie." She snapped, yanking her hand back once again.

"Look, I am sorry. I wasn't thinking when I said those things yesterday, it – it wasn't me speaking. We were both drunk and it was really stupid of me to harm you in this way."

 _You're virgin, aren't you?_

"You didn't harm me if that's your oppression."

 _Look at you._

"Oh, okay. But, still… I feel pretty guilty for ruining everything that was built between us. Whatever it was… I just want you to know that I really like you." He stumbled nervously over his words.

"Alright."

"Alright?"

"Yeah." She simply nodded. "Like you said, you were drunk. We both were, but I think – we should just leave it here and stay as just friends. It would be better this way."

"Uh, okay then – if that's what you want." He tugged at the strap of his black leather backpack. "So… am I forgiven?"

"Yep." A fake smile appeared on her lips.

"Good. Well, see you later on lectures. Bye." She watched him go away, mumbling a quiet 'bye' and sighed in relief. This one went really well. She wasn't great at talking and explaining herself at people, but this once – somehow he understood that he missed his chance and left.

It was disappointing, though.

The fact that in the beginning she thought he is the greatest, so far in the whole university and that they could actually get along...maybe as more than friends, eventually. But he showed his real side yesterday. Disgusting and insulting jackass.

* * *

"Now in addition to defining literature, literary theory also asks questions obviously not unrelated but which open up the field somewhat." Prof. Rodgers was explaining to the whole group of students about each Power Point slide he was stopping to.

And she was once again buried in the corner of the classroom, instead of sitting next to Lanie.

The way everything, felt today was awkward and uncomfortable. She avoided talking and bringing attention as much as she could. Not to mention she wasn't looking at anybody most of the time, especially a certain person who sounded pretty strange and nervous today.

The young Professor was explaining the lesson and without even looking at him she could tell that his voice was slightly trembling. It was weaker and more insecure than before. Usually he knew what he was talking about, but today...well he changed the topic three times and made them watch a presentation which was not related to today's lesson.

"What causes literature and what are the effects of literature?" He rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and glanced at the students. "Someone?"

Nobody raised a hand, so he nodded and swallowed before continuing. "In a way, there's a subset of questions that arises from those, and as to causes these are, of course what we'll be taking up. Next time the question "What is an author?" will be your topic for an assignment."

All of the students bend forward to their notebooks to write down their assignment topic, except for Kate. She was sitting with crossed arms and looking down at the empty space, without paying attention to the lesson.

He stared at her for a moment and swallowed again, feeling his whole body shake slightly at the sight of her, so quiet and distanced.

He didn't know if what he did on the previous day caused her to get scared of him or something like that...

It made him feel horrible, because she just opened herself at him and he chose to cross all the borders and kiss her.

In the fucking rain.

What was he thinking?

Anyways, he just kept on going with his lecture, moving to the next slide of the presentation.

* * *

At the end of the lecture he watched as everybody left the room and waited patiently on his desk. He hoped to get the opportunity to talk with her, but she was not alone. Lanie was walking beside her, making their way out, but he managed to take a risk and call out her name anyways.

"Miss Beckett?"

He watched as Lanie turned around first, even though it wasn't her who he was calling for.

"Can we talk for a second?"

He felt his palms sweat when her whole body tensed. Yeah, there was definitely something wrong. He did terribly wrong.

 _He messed up._

But then her shoulders relaxed a bit and she turned around to mumble in a short sentence "I don't feel like talking."

Lanie's eyes widened in shock and before she could form something to say to her friend, Kate was already heading outside.

"Kate! Wait. Wait – stop walking." Lanie yelled after her through the long corridors and when Kate stopped, her friend bumped slightly in her back.

"What?" She snapped.

"Don't what me! What the hell was that? You're acting strange, today."

"I am just tired." Kate ran a hand through her messy hair.

"Obviously, but Kate he is our teacher you can't-"

"Okay, I may have answered a little improperly, but I'm sure he was going to ask me if I can write bonus homework or research about something, and I am – I have, so much on my head right now. I need some break." Kate lied, making it pretty realistic by slumping down her shoulders a little bit.

Her friend seemed to believe her and tapped her slightly on the arm.

"Can we go at yours, if it's okay?" Kate asked insecurely and Lanie's face scrunched a little bit.

"Uh, actually there's a little problem here…."

"I understand if you don't want-"

"No, sweetie it's not that. Hell, I love having you around in my apartment, but this morning my parents called announcing that they are coming tonight for my mother's birthday." Lanie explained and when Kate was about to say something, her friend held up her hand to finish. "And I am not saying you can't stay, it's just – I don't know if you'd feel comfortable and you should probably sleep on air mattress, because-"

"Hey." Kate interrupted her with a little smile. "Thanks."

"What for – I just told you that you are going to sleep on the most uncomfortable-"

"Look, I am not staying tonight. I actually – talked with my father and we are good now. So it's kind of time to go back at my place." Kate lied to her.

"Oh, so you talked?"

Kate nodded.

"That's great!" Her friend cheered happily, while Kate was thinking of place to sleep tonight.

She didn't have much money. The coffee she was currently working at was paying her miserably and she didn't have enough for renting a place. Or going at motel even for this night...

Kate was practically homeless at the moment.


	14. Chapter 14

**Enjoy!**

Chapter 14

Kate stood on bench in the park which was three blocks near his building.

Obviously she was standing there, trying to rethink everything, before jumping into decisions. She wondered whether to go or not.

It was getting dark and cold and she had to come up with some kind of choice and result, soon.

There was no chance she would go back to her father's. She'd rather sleep right there on the bench. It would be much nicer. However, she didn't have much of a choice in this situation.

She already checked a couple of hostels, but her four bucks weren't enough for someone to shelter her. Besides her empty stomach was making growling sounds of starvation and desire to swallow something delicious, so she kept her last money just in case.

She got paid, yes. But it was three weeks ago and she already spend all her money on that stupid dress for Prof. Scheffler's birthday party. Big mistake.

But who knew she'll end up here.

Sleeping in the library or the toilets in the university was not an option anymore, because her favorite guard retired and the new one is very strict and no chance he would allow her to stay there.

On the other hand there was one last and final option she could take advantage of….

 _Listen, – I think I've already mentioned this, but you can always tell me if you need help. I mean things like finding a place to stay, clothes, food, money and this kind of supplies._

She remembers Rick's words from the previous night at the rooftop and felt guilty all of sudden. It wasn't fair to run away and then come back just, because she didn't have elsewhere to go.

Kate would not be surprised if he, choose to not accept her this time.

* * *

Rick was frightened and horrified of himself. Ashamed. Seriously, who told him that kissing a 19-years old student would be a good idea? It's no surprise and wonder she doesn't want to talk. Hell – he wasn't sure if she even wants to see him for the rest of her life, again.

He practically just took advantage of her broken state, instead of putting himself on her place and really try to be useful.

But no. He shoved his mouth onto hers and thought – what? That she is going to fall into his embrace and stay forever?

What the hell?

It just hit him painfully hard that he actually must have _something_ for her. Otherwise why would he expect something in return and do such thing on first place? And it was inappropriate, confusing and wrong all together at the same time. But mostly wrong.

It looks like yesterday it felt pretty right to him, though.

Whole evening he tortured and stressed himself with considerations about her. The fact that he felt something for his student, made him go insane at the realization.

So he chose to just forget it ever happened and distract himself with some good John Woo movies and junk food.

He was too exhausted to prepare something for himself and chose to order a pizza. When he settled everything on the coffee table and couch, he laid back against the cushions, turning on the DVD/R.

The first movie that he played was Hard Boiled from 1992. It was one of his favorites. It's been such a long time since he had seen it, but he still remembers Chow Yun-Fat's character being noble and courageous. Plus, the intensity and stress of the climactic sequence keeps him on his toes.

Which he loved and admired in every good movie.

At the most intense part his phone vibrated and he was really equivocal whether he should check it or just keep on watching at the TV screen.

Of course he couldn't resist and extended his arm through the boxes of pizza, trying to reach his cell phone.

It was SMS.

When the screen flashed and showed that the message is from her, he nearly dropped his phone in disbelief and excitement.

Pressing the 'pause' button on the remote to stop the movie, he opened his inbox reading the message repeatedly.

 ** _I am sorry._**

Once, twice – for seventh time he was reading it over and over again, trying to understand what she meant by those three words.

There was a moment of hesitation when he wondered if she just accidently send it to him, but he managed to press on her name anyways and dial.

He didn't know why he was calling her, but he thought it's going to be much easier to talk, instead of typing.

"Hello?" Rick spoke through the microphone, when he heard muffling sounds on the other line.

"Uh – hi." She mumbled quietly and he ran a hand through his hair, trying to figure out what to say.

"Was this message addressed to me?" He decided to go straight to the point.

"Yeah, it's – I send it to you, didn't I?" She asked with a little bit uncertainty in her voice. He could tell she was nervous. He was too.

"That's why I am calling." He chuckled nervously and she did too, which made him imagine her smiling shyly on the phone. Her voice was little shaky and he wondered if something's wrong.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I am fine. S'just little bit cold-"

"Cold? Are you outside – it's" he paused to look at his wrist. "It's 23:47pm."

"No." She breathed through the phone. "I am not outside – well technically not now. I was – but now uh you actually can open your door if you want."

His eyebrows immediately knotted together.

What?

"My door?" He quickly moved the pizza away, so he could stand up and head towards the door. His heart thrummed hard against his ribs when he placed hand around the door handle and pushed it aside to meet with the most breath-taking sight on the universe.

She was still holding the small phone against her ear when he saw her. Her cheeks were little reddened from the chill and freezing air outside. The cold from the stairwell immediately flooded inside of his warm apartment, so he smiled sweetly and invited her to come inside.

"You okay?" He asked gently, closing the door behind him. She stood next to him – very quiet and timid, her one hand wrapped around her middle and the other gripping slightly on her backpack shoulder strap.

"Yep." She mumbled and trapped her bottom lip between her teeth like she always does when she is shy or nervous.

He had noticed.

Her gaze lifted to look at the paused John Woo movie and open pizza boxes. "Am I interrupting, I can-" she poked finger at the door, but he quickly shook his head in reassurance.

"No, you're not interrupting anything. I was actually really bored and I chose something to watch. Really, you're welcome to come whenever you want. I already told you this, didn't I?"

Kate nodded and he gestured for her to sit down on the couch. "Are you hungry, want some pizza?"

When she looked at the delicious junk food in front of her and smelled the irresistible pepperoni flavor, her stomach couldn't help but grumble in hunger. Her cheeks heated up in embarrassment and expected him to laugh, but instead he just smiled kindly.

"You can wash and warm up your hands in the bathroom, over there." He showed her the direction of his bathroom and she thanked him, heading towards it.

He didn't know why she was here in first place, but he gratefully accepted her in and made sure she is feeling comfortable before falling into conversation.

When she came out freshened up and warm he already took care of cleaning the mess on his couch, filling plate with pizza and cappuccino with milk that has been frothed up with pressurized steam. For three minutes, he did that? For her.

"There was no need-"

"Nonsense, you're hungry and freezing." He spoke while sitting on the couch and chewing on his own pepperoni pizza. She smiled shyly at him and sat down to take her plate and start eating. Delicious and warm.

"I really didn't mean to come here and eat on the very first five minutes of – this was not my intention." She spoke after swallowing and he licked the ketchup from his lips. "I know, Kate. I never thought that. Actually I am pretty surprised that you accepted to eat on first place, so you don't have to worry."

Another nod and when she finished, she felt the air between them tense a little bit.

"I am sorry." She mumbled and he raised an eyebrow. "For being rude today – on lectures."

"It's understandable, you don't need to apologize."

"How is it understandable?"

"Well…" His face scrunched a little bit, raising a hand to rub at the back of his neck. "I am 24 years old, I am practically a man. Grown up. Not to mention I am your literature professor and I – scared you off-"

"You didn't – it's not, I responded." Before he could formulate what she was talking about it made his whole heart skip a beat at her confession. _I responded._ She did respond to the kiss and she just confirmed it. "And we were both emotional – it was very confusing night, so it's comprehensible for us to fall into something like that…"

"You are completely right." His lips curved into a sweet smile. "But – I am still sorry, though."

"You don't need to."

They both fell into silence and Rick watched as his TV shut itself down, because it was on pause for too long.

Alright, what now?

"I uh – need to ask you something. And I will do it now, because in you case you say 'no' to it, which would be perfectly fine, I would have to search-"

"Go ahead."

"Can I stay here for the night? It's understandable if you-"

"Of course." He interrupted her in reassuring voice once again.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I told you that you can always ask me if you need help. I didn't change my mind and I don't intend on doing it."

He was the most generous and sweet man, honestly. He would never stop surprising her. But still – he was teacher. Fuck. But that didn't change the fact that there was ketchup on the corner of his mouth and it made all the tension go off from her shoulders. He didn't look like a 24 years old man, though. It felt more like he was her classmate.

"Thank you, I really didn't know where to go."

"What happened, weren't you at Lanie?" He asked.

"Yeah, but her parents announced that they are coming and it's normal. It's not like I could have stayed there forever. I needed to move on at some point and it looks like today is the day for this. She told me that I can stay if I want, but I wouldn't feel very comfortable shoving between people's holidays and birthdays. So I lied that I okay with my dad."

"Are you?"

"What?"

"Okay with your dad." He finished.

"Uh – no. I don't think I'll ever be, unless he stops drinking. I don't know." She shrugged and he tapped her slightly on the arm.

"You must be exhausted; I'll go take some blankets and clothes."

"There's no need for clothes, I have mine inside of my backpack over here." She tapped the over-filled backpack placed over her feet and he nodded, heading towards what was supposed to be his bedroom.

"Be right back."

 **I have a lot of ideas about this story, please stick around a little longer and you'll see!**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N:** I AM SO EXCITED FOR YOU GUYS TO SEE THIS.

* * *

Rick helped her with making the couch much more comfortable place to sleep by bringing one of the most fluffy pillows and blankets he had.

He didn't stay much around Kate to give her the space. She needed some rest and liberty to drown in her own thoughts. Besides tomorrow both of them had to attend lectures. The only difference was that she is attending them as a student and he as teacher.

Before falling asleep she set her alarm for lectures and dragged the blanket up, over her chin. Laying flat on her back, she stared up at the ceiling, feeling her eyelashes getting heavier and heavier.

Finally when her whole body relaxed and warmed up under the soft cushions, she drifted off to sleep.

In a long time she hadn't been so calm with the idea of sleeping. Usually at her father's apartment she would be afraid and fearful – maybe even lock her door. But that didn't guarantee anything, right? He could have knocked down the door anytime he wanted to.

Her father was not a bad person.

Jim Beckett was just lost in his own grief and sorrow, instead of fighting against it. He was fighting against his daughter, as a substitute. Drowning. Not that Kate was all good and living happily, but she was still fighting against the urge to fall down into the black hole.

One day she will have enough money to get him into rehab….unfortunately, only thing she could do now is to wait.

* * *

She was in a house.

The house was on a large lot with a lake and dense woods. It was early in the morning and it was also still pretty dark.

It was very vivid at the corner of her eyes and her whole body felt numb.

Stuck.

Only thing she could hear was her mother's voice coming somewhere downstairs in echo. She heard her saying something like "I am going out…" it did not make much sense in her brain, but somehow her feet started to move and she grabbed her coat to run down the stairs.

Suddenly she was in front of a door and she pushed it aside to step out into the early morning fog. Before taking, the chance to go out she heard heavy footsteps on the stairs, headed up to the top floor. The house had hardwood floors, so she was able hear every single step and shuffle.

The first thought coming up into her mind was – "There is my mom!" She walked back over to the stairs and yelled her mother's name waiting for an answer. She yelled up again, "Mom?" Waiting a couple of seconds, she met with silence and made a swift turn and double-timing it to the back door. As Kate reached for the handle, she paused and heard rapid footsteps following her escape route pattern on the first floor, through the kitchen and into the dining room, stopping at the upstairs back door, right above her.

By rapid, it meant crazy, crazy fast. That inhuman kind of speed that gives people chills in all the scary movies.

She felt trapped.

She decided to yank open the sliding door, quickly stumbling out, and slamming the door shut behind her. Outside there was a parked car. Kate ran towards it as quickly as she could, back it up to turn around in the driveway, and face the kitchen window.

Taking a risk to stare for just a second or two, she noticed one side of the curtains pulled back just a little. A new wave of chills went through her just as she saw them thrown back down.

Finally, she was able to fist her hands tightly and wake up from a heartbreaking sob and intake of breath, coming from her.

Her t-shirt was clinging into her body frame from the sweat and she balanced herself on her elbow, sitting upright on the couch.

Everything was dark around her, but she knew where she was.

Rick's loft.

 _It was just a dream._

It was not real, but it felt like it was. This dream made no sense at all. However, it scared the shit out of her. Honestly, she had bad dreams before, but this felt way too realistic.

Her face was buried in her hands and she startled a bit when out of nowhere the lights turned on. Looking up she saw that it was Rick, who turned them on. He came out from his bedroom in PJ's and worried look on his face.

She felt more relieved now….knowing that it's not some kind of non-existent creature that turned them on.

"Kate - are you okay?" His voice was low and gentle without daring to come closer to her.

How did he even know she was awake?

"Give me a minute and I'll be." She mumbled, rubbing the lines of her temple, still trying to calm down her shallow breathing.

He nodded sadly and watched her tiny form shake from what must have been a really bad experience.

He knew Kate was having a nightmare the second he heard her scream from the living room. On his way there, he even nearly broke his pinkie finger on corner. He took a second to suppress the pain and went to her again, but the next time more carefully.

"Can you give me a cup of water?" She asked him in calmer tone than couple of seconds ago and he immediately headed for the kitchen.

Rick was so determined to help her stressed state that he didn't even bother to turn on the lights in the kitchen. It was not fully dark there, but still – it was not very visible for certain things. For example the cups he was searching for.

Fumbling through the upper cabinets he found what he was searching for by accidentally knocking another cup. Unfortunately, he was too sleepy to react faster and use his reflections to catch the falling cup. The glass collided with his right eyebrow and then fell down breaking onto pieces on the floor. The cup was from the heavy type and he growled in pain among the noises of breaking glass.

Everything was a mess.

How could he miss catching a fucking cup just like that?

Within couple of seconds Kate was by his side standing carefully on her bare feet as if to avoid getting another piece of glass in her foot.

There was worry written over her face and yeah – he actually did a great job scaring her even more, instead of giving her water properly.

"Oh my Gosh – you, are you okay?"

He was standing there still not sure what and how all of this happened with a hand pressed against his eyebrow. "I am fine; you stay there and don't move. I have to clean up this…."

When he removed a hand from his eyebrow she gasped and he winced at her reaction. "What is it?"

"Your eyebrow is bleeding."

"I am such a fool." He sighed, looking down at his reddened hand. "All you asked for is cup of water and I-"

"Hey, no, Rick stop. These things happen, besides I am better now. I am actually more concerned about your eyebrow." She winced at the pooling blood down on his cheek. "We need to stop it from bleeding."

"I am good." He said even though the injured area of his eyebrow was pulsing hard against his skin.

"Sure." She rolled her eyes. "Come on, let me help. Where is your first aid kit?"

"There's no need, it'll-"

"Nonsense, you helped me when I was having a piece of glass inside of my foot, didn't you? Now why don't you let me do the same for you?" She asked and explained sweetly and he winced at _'piece-of-glass-inside-of-my-food'_ because her state was much worse than his lightly bruised eyebrow. And that's why part of him was saying that he should do it on his own and man up a little bit, but the sweet and concerned look Kate was giving him….

"It's in the bathroom, under the sink."

"Thanks. You can sit on the chair and wait, I'll be back." She met his eyes for a brief second and turned towards the bathroom.

He looked at the clock and it showed 2:17am. The past days he had lack of sleep and it's not a surprise that his reflections weren't working properly. But Kate really astonished him by being so determined to help him, even though it wasn't something so serious. Hers was much worse than his.

"I found it." She announced, coming towards him. He was settled on the chair by the kitchen counter looking up expectedly at her. She looked down at the floor avoiding the big pieces of glass and turned on the lights on to see more clearly.

Placing the first aid kit next to his propped arm on the counter she opened it and came close to him. Usually he was much taller than her, but now he was sitting and they were on the same eye level. It kind of awakened butterflies inside of his abdomen at having her so close to him. But he immediately shut it down, remembering who is he and the real reason she is here.

"I once slit my eyebrow on the rough pavement while playing hide n' seek." She confessed and his face scrunched while imagining it. "I was little and my mother took me to the hospital. It's kind of a blur, but I remember that they sewed up the skin and it did hurt a lot."

"How old were you?" He couldn't help but get curious about little Kate.

"I think I was seven." Her lips curved into a cute smile. She took a cotton ball with hydrogen peroxide on it and gently wiped the blood that flowed from the tiny crack. His one eye closed when he felt hot wave of pain inside the crack of his open eyebrow. He tried his best to not wince like a baby. "Good news is that the crack is small and I don't think you'll need to get sewed."

He breathed out in relief and she chuckled. It was so great this thing between them, right in this moment. So natural and normal. Kate held his face up by the cheeks, so gently and carefully – he could fall asleep right there.

"It's almost done, I'll just have to put you some PhD tape and compress to reduce swelling." She explained and carefully went to the fridge to search for icepacks.

He watched her fumbling around his fridge feeling his whole inside flip at the sight of her so free in his home. It felt kind of domestic. Honestly, he was kind of glad that this cup hit him on the eyebrow.

Suddenly she appeared in front of him again, standing between the v-line of his legs and gently pressed a bag of ice on his eyebrow.

"What did you dreamt about?" Her shoulders tensed a bit at his unexpected question, but she only shrugged.

"I only remember it was scary, but now all of it is gone. It didn't make any sense. None of my dreams does, actually." He felt her chuckle wash over his face.

"You screamed." He spoke with worry written over his face and she chewed nervously on her lip. "I got so scared something else happened to you."

"I am okay." She unconsciously stroked the side of his face with her free hand and his blue eyes flashed deeply into hers. "You are the one who cleft his eyebrow."

He laughed and then his eyes instinctively lifted to her lips and then back up to her hazel eyes. She was so beautiful and extraordinary. He was extremely eager to embrace her around his shoulders and never let her go. Or to try to take wash the pain away from her miserable and hard life….

"Rick." It made him swallow, not self-conscious but fighting for control, forcing his hands to keep still at his sides.

She didn't even need to get closer, just angled her forehead so it was almost touching his. She gave a shuddering breath as he lifted his stunned eyes directly at hers. This was the closest they had ever got until now. And she was the one taking the first step, not him – it was her.

Every vibe she was giving off, every feeling he was getting from watching and having her this close was telling him that she was about to do something.

Something very different than the other things they were doing.

"Kate?" He asked softly, watching as she intently flicked her eyes down at his chin and jawline for the briefest of seconds.

"I am about to do something really stupid." She confessed in whisper and he swallowed when her head angled sideways to touch his cheek with her forehead. She was still holding the ice bag gently at his eyebrow with one hand and the other was firmly placed at his shoulder blade. "I just can't help myself. I wanted to do again it since – the – thing on the bus stop yesterday. I can't stop thinking about-, it's blowing up my whole ability to hold back and refrain myself."

"What's stopping you?" His Adam apple lifted up and down when he felt her breath at his cheek, slipping down his neck and whole body like a fire.

Then the tip of her nose touched his and he lost all kinds of chill.

She was about to actually go for it.

He stopped breathing when her lips landed on the corner of his mouth, so close and warm. Her hand moved up to skim at the stubble of his jaw and then she closed her eyes as she grazed the corner of his top lip between her own. He couldn't help but allow himself to part his own lips slightly, showing her that she can move along and he is in on this.

Before he could realize it her lips landed fully on his mouth. She was kissing him. Kate Beckett was kissing him.

She shivered hard, drawing his bottom lip into her mouth a little as he inhaled, sliding her tongue over it to sooth it.

Rick pressed a light kiss to her mouth before speaking. "It's so - wrong."

"I know." She whispered sadly in return, stroking his cheek. "Do you want to stop?"

He knew she was scared.

But….

But it was everything and it's not something that he would miss.

Not now, _not ever_.

He took her hand gently and took the ice bag from her hands, placing it on the counter. Then he stood up from the chair to stand tall and broad in front of her, catching the corner of her jaw with his hand sliding it up against her cheek.

"I don't want this to stop." He found himself admitting at her and her eyes flashed with something that was telling him she didn't want to stop, either.

His fingers slipped gently under her chin to angle her face upwards. And then his mouth landed on hers, earning a gasp from her.

The kiss was so excruciatingly slow, she was going to burst.

He quivered, when Kate extended up hands to place them over his flushing cheeks.

So next time he pressed his lips against hers they were open and she chased his mouth with her own, letting him know that she is okay with it.

She swallowed between an inhale and an exhale, finding his tongue following the air as it rushed inside in the cracks of their mouths, dancing across the roof of her mouth.

After couple of seconds he pulled his tongue back into his mouth and nipped gently on her bottom lip as she looked up at him with glowing eyes. Then his hands were on her back, stroking slowly and lazy as he bend down to graze his lips on her cheek. Her breathing was still recovering when he wrapped her in his arms, embracing and holding onto her warmly, filled with indescribable feelings.

She was broken and he was fixing her.

What were they doing?

It didn't matter.

She didn't care.

 **What do you think? :o**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N:** I am so thankful for the great response on my last chapter, you guys really made me smile!

* * *

They were standing like this for long time, wrapped in each other's arms and enjoying the chance of being so close. For first time they were able to do it without hesitations and worrying if it's not the right thing. Maybe it wasn't, but it was impossible not to cross this line between them.

It was a long time coming for them.

There were many unsaid things that needed to be resolved and discussed, but tonight they just needed to possess this new thing and breathe in the new scent.

He was holding her tight, but not too tight and Kate's nose was buried against his shoulder blade, tickling his warm skin with her quiet breaths.

"Do I still have to look at you as Lanie?" She asked, grinning at herself.

"What?" He gathered his eyebrows together, pressing his head a little closer to her to be able to hear more clearly and understandable.

She chuckled. "When I first came here I was embarrassed that you saw me in miserable state and that I was staying at your loft. But you told me to just imagine you are Lanie…"

"Uh, yeah I remember." His face scrunched, because – really? That was the best he got back then? He could've said something else instead of _'imagine I am Lanie'_. "Don't look at me as her, it would be awkward."

"I agree." He felt her laugh against his neck once again which send goosebumps all over his body, making him smile at their silliness.

But then realization hit him and the smile disappeared from his face. "I don't want us to mess up this."

"Me too." She murmured. "I've never been in serious relationship, before. Besides it's really risky if someone sees us - I am not sure I'll be very good at-"

"Hey." Rick pulled back from their embrace to be able to look down at her, cradling her skull in his hands to hold her still as he leaned down to press his mouth to hers. Their lips fitted together in a gentle, perfect encounter that stole her words, her breath -everything. Kate kissed him back by sucking his bottom lip into her mouth, focusing on the flesh with the touch of her tongue while her hands were scarping and running through his soft hair. She wanted to do this since her first lecture with him. Finally she could satisfy her desires.

He hummed too throaty and knocked his forehead back into hers to take a moment and look into her eyes. "See? You're pretty good at this."

Her cheeks flushed at his words, bending down her head a little to hide her blush, but he lifted up her face by putting finger on her chin. "Everything is going to be just fine. Do you trust me?"

Kate nodded, biting on her lip. "I do." She did trust him. More than anyone else in her life.

"We just have to be careful and try not to spill it out in front of people."

"Especially, Lanie." She agreed.

Not that she was a bad friend, but she wouldn't risk telling her and then deal with moving into another university, because Lanie accidentally spilled it out in front of Maddie and Maddie told someone else… Stuff like this.

He stared at her for a long time, making an insecurity build up inside of her. "What?"

His arms shrugged. "I don't know how I am going to survive all those lectures without being able to be so close to you and touch you."

Then her lips curved in shy, sweet smile. "Me too, it's going to be really hard to concentrate on the lesson." His heart quickened at her confession.

"Oh, really?" He stroked his nose against hers in Eskimo kisses.

"Really."

"Well, then I suppose that only thing you could do Miss Beckett is try to behave during class and resist your Professor's ruggedly handsome look."

Her eyes rolled at his state, making him nudge his hip with hers which caused her to sway a little. "I'll try."

"Good." His hand lifted up to stroke the side of her face, tracing her sharpened cheekbone with the tip of his finger. Then down the lines of her swollen lips, her nose, and then the dark circles around her hazel eyes. She was beautiful and she could get even more (if that was even possible) if she gets some sleep. "Don't stress out yourself with unnecessary thoughts, okay?"

Her head bobbed twice.

"We'll see how it goes from here and remember that – whatever happens I am on your side. If you have a problem, it's my problem, too. So tell me if there's something."

"Thank you, really." She leaned into the touch of his palm.

"Now you go and continue sleeping, I'll have to clean up this mess…."

Suddenly both of them had forgotten that his eyebrow was bleeding.

* * *

Kate woke up earlier than him and prepared herself for lectures by flipping some pancakes for her and Rick. She wasn't sure if it was the right thing to make pancakes without asking or getting permission from him, but actually she thought it would be like a little 'Thank you' from her about everything he did.

She waited for him on the kitchen counter, hoping he will wake up soon, so they could have some time to talk before heading to the university. Her cheeks flushed at the memory of them on the previous night and their first kiss. It was magical and breathtaking. Her breath caught up in her throat just – thinking about it.

But unfortunately he didn't wake up earlier than she expected him to and she decided to head to the university.

She knew he had lectures with them after three hours.

Now she had to prepare herself for physics.

And wait for literature.

* * *

Oh, well literature passed and her lectures finished. She was pretty exhausted, but at the same time really excited inside, because of the whole situation with Rick. They were making a good job of keeping it a secret and it kind of made Kate relax a little bit and have faith in them. It could work. They just had to be careful.

Of course, he exchanged a few shy and sweet glances with her during the lesson, but he made sure it was only when everybody were busy writing down the plan in their notebooks.

He caught her a few times biting on her pencil, looking thoughtfully at him. It awakened the need to kiss her inside of him, but he looked away instead to collect himself. This was really serious and they should not mess it up.

Anyways, she was sitting on the floor against the criminal justice and law enforcement book section in the library. She tried to focus on learning bunch of things, but something that happened in between the break made her feel a little bit down and insecure.

She was talking with Lanie about how things went on her mother's birthday and how her uncle got drunk, but then Josh and bunch of other guys walked through the corridor….

Josh had this disgusting and sordid smirk on his face, watching at her and Lanie as they passed by and then he laughed in mocking tone, still staring at her as he told something to his friends.

Honestly, Kate felt pretty anxious and unconfident during the whole thing, but thankfully Lanie was there to shout something insulting after Josh and drag her away from there. Yeah, Lanie was pretty good when it came to protecting her friends. She had noticed.

And now instead of reading the education books on the floor and scattered notes all over her lap, she was overthinking about the stupid thing. She just hated to be discussed by other people or laughed at. It made her want to know what he said to his friends.

Kate sighed and shook her head closing the textbook, placing hands over her face.

She couldn't learn anything at the moment.

It was just impossible to concentrate when so many things were going on her mind. She wished they could somehow disappear. It actually happened when she felt the presence of someone standing in front of her.

Her whole face lighted up when she looked through the fingers of her hands. It was him. It was Rick smiling in adorable way down at her, which made her push herself up on her feet immediately.

"Hey." He whispered and she met his eyes shyly for briefest of seconds.

"Hi."

"Thanks for the pancakes." Her lips curved into a sweet smile, glad that she did the right thing.

"You liked them?" Her tone was low, looking around the shelves just in case if there was someone else in this section.

"Honestly, the best pancakes I've ever tasted. Thank you, Kate."

"You are welcome, it's at least I could do."

He looked at the abandoned books on the ground and took a little step closer to her, but it confused him when she took a step away from him.

"We shouldn't – here…." Her head was moving from left to right to check the space around them.

But he didn't listen to her and closed the space between them, catching her by the elbows, grinning at how tense and worried she was.

Her eyes were wild.

"Kate." He whispered bringing her attention to him. "Calm down, there are barely four people in the whole library. It's two-floor library, there are no cameras, and this is the most non-visited section. I've already made sure to check before coming to you."

"You did?" Her eyebrows raised in astonishment.

"Yup." He popped on the 'p' like a little child, looking expectedly at her.

"Are you sure someone didn't saw-"Before she could form and spell out her sentence he was cupping her face and slanting his mouth over hers, sipping slowly and reverently from her lips.

Oh, Lord.

This man.

It was so addicting.

He didn't push for more than just the work of his lips against hers, savoring the taste of their mouths. She did bite, for sure. He had noticed she likes to trap his bottom lip between hers and suck on it, gently. Damn.

Rick's hands were roaming from her back to her neck, cradling Kate's face in her palms to angle her mouth for a deeper kiss, while she was urging closer.

"Rick." For first time he heard something like this come out from her mouth. It was between whisper and gasp, but definitely more like a gasp. And it made him realize that they are drifting off to something bigger than just an innocent kiss, so yeah – they should probably slow down a little bit.

He slowed down the movements of his lips against hers and she followed him, pecking each other with light kisses.

When they were catching their breaths, foreheads pressed together he chuckled throaty and then swallowed nervously. "Kate?"

"Hmmm?" She hummed still affected by the mini-make out session.

"I have some work to do and I need to go, but before I do – are you going to stay at my loft, again? I mean – not like that. I just have to make sure you have a safe place to stay and you know... my doors are always – uh they are always open for you-"He was suddenly stumbling over his words and to assure him she stroked his soft cheek with the knuckles of her hand.

"Yes."

"Really?" He asked, breathing out in relief.

"But only if it's not too much-"

"Nope, it's not."

"Alright."

 **By the way the kiss in the library is based on the cover photo of the story. :)**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

She had grown sick and tired of explaining the difference between a latte and cappuccino all day at work, not to mention she have been trained to keep smiling even though customers treated her like poo sometimes. Alright. Maybe most of the time.

Kate sometimes wished she could just throw on an invisibility cloak when someone walked into the store.

Especially right at the moment when the person who she least expected to come, just walked in through the doors with his friends. She always had hoped deep inside to never meet with him again, which was hardly possible. How the hell did they choose this coffee shop of all the coffee shops in New York?

She was the only one left on shift and there was no chance to ask someone else to take their orders. Damn it. Screwed. That she was.

The second they made their way to one of the booths and settled themselves, Josh looked around for waitresses, but before he could raise a hand his eyes froze on hers.

She went completely still and gripped at the napkin in her hands, breathing out slowly through her nostrils. She needed to get a grip and act professional. _Just act like you don't know them._ It wasn't that simple, was it?

He laughed. The bastard actually laughed mockingly and degrading, which brought the attention from the other tables to him. And then of course to her….

There were a couple of blonde girls on the sides of each guy and she assumed they were from the university too.

Alright, she had to get this over with and just take their orders. Hopefully they were not going to stick around for long time. Not a big deal – until she did go to take their orders and first thing that escaped from Josh's mouth was "I pictured you as a lot of things, but I never imagined you as a waitress."

The guys from the booth laughed and she felt her insides flip. The blondes just chuckled looking with humiliation at her, which brought all kinds of levels with insecurity inside of her. It felt pretty bad. She couldn't say she didn't felt a little disgraced and embarrassed.

"May I take your orders, please?" She kept the fake smile on her face and asked politely.

"Oh, right." He smirked looking at his friends and then back up to Kate. She was holding onto the little notebook and pen tightly, waiting for this whole thing to end. Couldn't she just hide herself somewhere? "I want coffee, please."

"More specifically?"

"I don't know I am kind of new to the coffee. I wondered if you could do something that you think I would like?" She knew what that is. He was just pushing all of her buttons down and trying to mess with her. Well, it looks like he didn't know that Kate Beckett had a lot of sides.

"And how am I supposed to know what you like?"

"You're a waitress, aren't you?" He asked with a little pride in his voice. What was with him and the desire to mortify her in front of everyone? Especially at her work place.

"Yes, but it's not my job to know your favorite flavors. You might like the taste of shit, who knows?" His friends didn't make a good job of hiding their laughs, covering their mouths with hand. His Adam apple shifted as he swallowed. Yep, he totally provoked and earned this from her.

Her statement made an old couple turn around from their table to stare at her, which caused her heart rate fasten a little bit.

"I want decaf." He finally said avoiding her eyes and she scribbled it down into her notebook, moving on to ask his company and take their orders. Thankfully they didn't try to embarrass her like Josh did. Good.

When she prepared seven coffees, she placed them in the tray, making sure they are not going to slip while walking. Serving and collecting cups - it may look good carrying 10 at a time, but she knew that more than once a month somebody always drops some, so she just took 3 or 4 at a time. She wouldn't let herself get even more embarrassed if she accidentally drops some of the cups. Or all of them. _No, thank you._

As she served them the drinks and made a turn to go back, Josh opened his mouth to speak once again. "Uh, excuse me…."

"Yes?" She responded politely.

"I told you that I wanted my coffee to be iced." As employees, they did forget people's orders every once and a while. But this time it wasn't her fault for sure. He very clearly and simply said just 'I want decaf', nothing else. She was 100 percent sure he didn't order it iced.

"You didn't say you wanted it to be iced."

"Oh well, actually I did. You can ask my friends if you'd like. Right?" Josh looked at one of his friends and one of the guys nodded, saying "He did."

"Okay, obviously you are not here to drink coffee. You're here to interfere with my work, I get it. But may I ask - what the fuck is your problem? Is it because I rejected your repellent charms, Josh? Is that it?" Alright, this was inappropriate behavior towards clients on so many levels, but she couldn't let him do this to her anymore.

The old couple from the table gasped quietly in fright and disbelief. Oh, well….The girl next to him gasped in shock, as well.

What was she supposed to do?

She couldn't just let him humiliate and make her go crazy all day.

Unfortunately, what she most hoped to not happen just happened.

"Miss Beckett?" Her whole body tensed at the sound of her boss speaking from somewhere behind her. "May I speak to you? Now."

Surely Josh was pleased with the whole thing.

* * *

Rick just finished cooking when he heard a quiet knock against his door. He knew it was her. It couldn't be his mother, because she was on play in Los Angeles at the moment. It had to be Kate.

And it was her. Except that when he opened the door to meet her on the other side she was not like he expected her to be. There were tears streaming down on her cheeks and her bottom lip was quivering. It made him freeze at the sight of her, so drained and miserable.

"Kate?" He looked at her with the most worried look she had ever seen from someone. Before he could say something else, she was stepping through the threshold to crash her body against his and wrap her arms around his neck. "Hey, what happened?"

She didn't say anything and just sobbed quietly into his neck. He assumed she couldn't talk right now, so he just held her tightly and stroked her back in calm motions. _Relax, Kate._

Something obviously made her upset and he was determined to figure out what it was.

But right now she needed him and it was more important to make her feel better.

"They fired me." She spoke through shaky breaths, gripping tightly on him not wanting to leave the warmth of his embrace. She felt him tense a little bit at her confession and then he pulled back to pull her further inside of his loft and close to door behind them. They sat on the couch and he placed arm around her shoulders to get closer and brush the tears that were finding their way out from her hazel eyes with his thumb.

"Why?" Who would do that? As far as he knew Kate was perfectly good and strict when it came to working and being responsible. She was pretty organized person.

She licked her lips and something like anger flashed into her eyes. "They provoked me, I didn't mean to – from the first second they entered they started messing with me and try to, uh it was actually him who started the whole thing-"She knew she was stumbling over her words, thankfully he made her stop and take a breath while stroking her cheek.

Placing a strand of hair behind her ear he asked gently "Kate, who are they? Him?"

"Josh and his friends." She breathed out his name in disgust. Just the thought of him, made her feel even more miserable. Jackass.

Rick's eyebrows gathered in confusion as Kate adverted her gaze away from him. "I should have probably started from the beginning, instead of crying at your door. I am sorry."

"No, Kate don't you dare apologize to me. I want to help, but I – uh I am kind of confused. If you are up to talking you can always tell me what happened, you know? I am always here to listen."

 _Sweet man._

"I know." The corners of her mouth curved into watery smile. "Thank you for that."

He smiled back and cradled her small hand in his, stroking the soft and cold skin on her knuckles.

"Are you hungry?" He asked and she shook her head. "Let's talk first."

"Okay." His head bobbed twice, still holding onto her hand for encouragement.

"I was working at the coffee shop and everything was perfectly fine, until Josh came in with his group of friends." Kate sniffed and swallowed before continuing. "I knew it was bad idea to go to them, but there was no one else on shift, so I had no choice and – I had to take their orders. When Josh saw me he said that he had pictured me as a lot of things, but never as a waitress. I tried to ignore everything and just act professional, but it didn't work. It just got into my nerves - apparently my boss heard me and then he told me I could go and search for another job."

"Sorry for interrupting, but I was kind of - with the impression that you and Josh were getting along. You broke up or something?"

"We never dated." _Thankfully_. "Do you remember the night when I was on the rooftop, during Professor Scheffler's birthday party?"

Does he remember? Of course he did, it was the night they kissed for first time. How could he forget something like that, so easily? But instead of saying that he just simply nodded encouraging her to continue.

"Well, before meeting you there I was with Josh. We were kind of drunk, well – uh technically he was the drunken one I was aware of what we were doing." She sighed and his heart clenched at _'what we were doing'_. "We were – uh kissing and he got a little handsy, I told him to stop. It didn't felt right – it was horrible. I don't want to even think about it." Yeah, he didn't want to imagine it, either.

"But?" He found himself asking and she fumbled with her hands in her lap.

"But he didn't like the idea of stopping. So I rejected his offers and he told me some things…. So that's it – since then whenever Josh sees me he is laughing or watching at me with mockery." She trailed off and bit on her lip.

"What things and is this why you were crying back then?"

Her arms shrugged. "It's not important, I was just emotional."

"It is important to me." Rick insisted on knowing, but that was the part of the story she didn't wanted him to know about. She hoped they could just avoid talking about it. It was something that she kept only to herself.

"Rick, - I can't." Her voice trembled a little bit and he noticed how uncomfortable she had become.

Her eyes were never meeting his, so he gently placed hands over her cold cheeks and made her look at him. "What did Josh said to you that night, Kate?"

She only shifted shy eyes at him and then pinched her lips in straight line. "I don't want to tell you, Rick. It's embarrassing."

"It's about you, right?"

"Yes." She nodded.

"Well, then there's no way it could be embarrassing."

"How are you so sure?"

"I am sure." He stroked her cheekbone with the pad of his thumb and smiled reassuringly. "I promise."

"You are not letting this go, are you?"

He shook his head and she sighed heavily, trying to calm down herself. "I – uh, am… well, he asked if I am a virgin."

She noticed that Rick's eyes flinched a little bit and the hand on her cheek stilled, but he didn't remove it and she didn't know what it meant.

Then he cleared his throat. "Are you? I mean – a virgin."

His question kind of caught her off guard, but she nodded anyways feeling her cheeks flaming from the admission. "Yes."

Okay, this was definitely embarrassing and weird. This is not how she imagined this conversation to go. At least she hoped they'd never talk about this.

"What happened next?" He asked.

"I told him it's not his business and he said that it was obvious that…. I am a virgin. I didn't know what he meant by that, so I asked and – he said _'look at you'_. I can't help but think that there is really something wrong and repulsive in me-"

"No, there is nothing wrong or repulsive in you, Kate. Actually, quite the opposite – you are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life. Honestly." Blush covered her face, making her hide herself behind the curtains of her curly hair, so Rick gently brought her eyes back to his by putting hand under her chin.

"You know, there's a difference between a real man and coward. And Josh is the perfect example for the second one. Being a virgin is nothing you should be embarrassed about. It's sacred thing, not something you would give that easily."

Obviously this conversation couldn't get much awkward than it already was.

"Do you know how disgusting and insulting is for a man to come across as a sloppy lover?"

"Isn't it more – attractive to know that she is experienced?" She couldn't help herself, but ask him. It got her curious what men preferred. And it was kind of nice talking about such things with him, she trusted him.

"No, it's not about how experienced you are. It's about who you are. I am speaking for myself as a man, of course. There are plenty men that think and prefer the opposite."

"I guess you made it less embarrassing." She scoffed at herself and he surprised her by leaning forward to kiss her on the cheek.

"Because it's not, it's actually adorable how your cheeks get red from talking about stuff like this." A little giggle escaped his mouth and she swatted him on the arm lightly. "Sex."

"Stop it." She mumbled, crossing her arms.

"Say it."

"Seriously, how old are you?" She rolled her eyes at him and he grinned like an idiot. Rick moved a little closer to her to be able to press a light kiss against her lips. She couldn't help, but smile sweetly against his mouth. It made her wonder how from crying at his doorstep he made her feel in completely different way.

He made her feel like she was special.

"One last thing before we go and eat - I don't want you to get humiliated by Josh. You're beautiful and amazing person. He can't have you and being rude is his way of protecting himself." He spoke in voice filled with concern and sincerity. "If you feel insecure about something and we can't see each other, you can always text me on the phone. Okay?"

"Okay." She agreed and then leaned forward to wrap her arms around him on the couch.

He buried his nose in her hair, savoring the moment between them. "You'll find a new job." Rick whispered in her ear and she smiled against the fabric of his sweatshirt.

"Thank you for being you, Rick."

Obviously, she stopped caring about the fact that he was a teacher. It was impossible not to touch or be close to each other. Since the kiss at the bus stop they have become too attached.

He saved her from falling apart, so many times.

He made her forget so _many_ things.

He made her feel alive again.

He made her want to do things with delectation.

Rick made her believe that maybe living was not that bad after all and that it could get better.

* * *

 **It would be nice to hear your opinion! :)**


	18. Chapter 18

**Continuation of Chapter 17**

After their sweet talk on the couch, they ate dinner together and then Rick gave Kate some space and time to study. She sat by the kitchen counter and told him that it was perfectly fine for her to study there, because the light was not making her eyes ache and he willingly went to his bedroom.

While she was studying, he managed to go to bed and try to write something in this non-touched file. It was a week or even more since the last time he tried to add something into this story he started. It was just a simple thing he started and now he couldn't help himself, but want to finish it sooner or later.

He knew it wasn't a masterpiece like James Patterson's mystery novels and it was far from something that could get published someday, but he just felt the desire to write his ideas down. Explore them. Do it just for himself if not for someone else.

Another thing that was that Patterson has written more than 100 novels since 1976 and that was a lot. So he knew he must improve his writing a lot if he wanted to reach some goals.

He had to, because teaching students - not that it was something bad…. it wasn't, but it wasn't his thing, either. It wasn't something he was looking forward to do for a living.

So after thirty minutes of thinking how should the plot go, he had spurted himself to start pressing on the keyboard.

Once he started typing the words, it became much easier than a couple of minutes ago.

After one hour of constant pressing on the keyboard, he leaned back against the pillows to press his hands against his eyes and take a break. His eyes were very sensitive when it came to being focused on TV or computer screen for too long.

There was burning friction underneath his eyelids, which made him scrub hands over them once again.

Then he heard a light knock against his bedroom door. "Come in." He was too tired to stand up from the bed. Too comfy and warm.

Couple of seconds passed and the door knob of his bedroom finally turned down, watching as Kate's head peeked inside to look at him.

"Hi."

"Hey, weren't you studying?" He asked.

"I finished, it wasn't much for tomorrow." She was looking only at him while talking. It was like she was a little nervous about something. Maybe it was the fact that she hasn't been in his bedroom before. "Am I interrupting something?"

He noticed that her gaze was flicking between him and the laptop. "Oh, - no. I was searching for a movie to watch, because I was bored." Then he quickly shut the computer screen and moved the laptop on his night stand.

"Wait - don't, I mean continue your search for a movie. I am going to sleep anyway-"

"I doubt it there's something interesting." Of course he lied about searching for a movie, but he couldn't just tell her he was writing some crappy stuff, right? "So… what brought you here?"

Her arms, shrugged coyly. "I don't know I just got bored over there…" she gestured with her thumb at the living room. "And I actually wanted to talk about something with you, if - uh that's okay?"

"Of course, come here and sit." He pulled himself a little upright to lean against the headboard and she shyly walked towards the edge of the bed sitting on it.

"What's up?" Her eyes met his and she couldn't help, but think he was so adorable like this. In fluffy gray sweatshirt which he picked for sleeping and tousled hair, which made him look like a little boy. Besides these things it was just really different to see him in this kind of state, in bed surrounded by fluffy pillows and blankets.

"I am kind of uncomfortable, like that…." She chewed on the inside of her cheek when confusion appeared on his face.

"Like what?"

"Well, it's kind of - I am not that type of person who does nothing, especially at other people's homes. And I am literally doing nothing except for eating your food, sleeping on your couch and among other things." He watched as she took a heavy breath and fumbled her hands in her lap nervously. "I got no job and I doubt it that someone is going to hire me very soon. I just feel bad about this whole situation, which you are involved in. I don't want - to do nothing, I want to help you with something, so I could repay you somehow-"

"Kate, no, hey - you don't need to repay me for anything." He cut her off, sitting straight to cross his legs and to get a little closer to her. "All I want is you to be okay, nothing else. I don't expect you to give me something in return, I never will. I just want you to have a place to sleep, eat healthy, study and this could be your place for a while."

"I know, but still… I can't help, but feel like I am invading your personal life and space."

"Well, that's not true. I like it here when you are here, honestly. I don't mean to sound creepy, but since you are here I find my home a better place to stay at." He admitted shyly and perceived something like happiness shining in Kate's eyes.

"You do?"

"Yeah, I do and I want you to stay here as long as you want and need to." He explained sweetly, running a hand through his hair. "Besides, when you are somewhere else I'm very worried you are going to end up at your dad's again and I can't - I don't want you to get hurt or something like that."

She knew he was right about this. There was no place where she could go to and here in his loft was her only option for now. It wasn't like she wanted to leave, but it felt like she was really invading his life.

"Alright." Her head bobbed twice in agreement. "I will do my best to find a job and rent a place soon, I promise."

"Did you even listen to a word I said?" He chuckled and she lifted anxious eyes at him. "You don't have to rush into stuff like this right now. I don't want you to get worried about this, okay? All I want is you to be happy and good. If the thing that worries you most is-"

"Rick?" She stopped him from explaining, because she already understood how much he cared for her.

"Yeah?"

"Can I hug you?" She saw the way his eyes lighted up at her question and it made her heart thrum violently. It was just - the way he was looking at her made everything, so exhilarating and extraordinary. It made her forget how abandoned and lifeless, everything around her was.

His arms were waiting for her wide opened and Kate crawled on the bed, crossing the last barrier between them to wrap her arms around his torso. "You are the most caring and amazing person I've ever met in my life. I can't tell you how thankful I am that I have you. You are my only reason to continue living, literally."

"Don't say that, you are a strong person, Kate." He closed his eyes against the crown of her head and held her body tight against his solid sternum.

"I'm not strong at all." She chuckled against his shoulder blade and when a tear dropped there he realized that she was crying. "Do you know how many times I wondered if I would've survived-"

"Shhhh, you are here now. You made it, so there is no need for _'what ifs_ ' and unnecessary thoughts. We are together in this, I am not leaving you." He heard her sniffle against him, which made him pull away to be able to look down at her face. "Kate, do you even know what you do to me every time I see you?"

She shook her head in cautious way and he smiled thoughtfully. "Every time I see you, I don't get butterflies, I get freaking elephants."

A beautiful laugh escaped her mouth and she bit on her still faintly quivering lip, looking pensively at him. She lifted her neck up to be able to pull him into a kiss, her mouth sweet and gentle against his. He breathed in surprise through his nose, his hands finding their way on her ribs.

Somehow an innocent kiss turned into making out filled with passion and something new. Maybe it was the fact that they were not standing in front of each other like they normally would, but in bed. His bed.

His fingers found hers, twining them together, and humming against her mouth when she stroked his tongue with hers in modest dance. Suddenly they were both letting the gravitation drag them down against the mattress of his bed and Kate found herself underneath his solid body.

His hands cradled her jaw in his palms, while drawing a languid kiss from her mouth. They pulled away to take a breath and he rested his forehead against hers, his eyes large and blue, his breath shallow and fanning across her lips.

"Rick, I -"Her voice was hoarse and little high pitched.

"What is it?" He аsked, looking expectedly at her.

She wondered if the blush covering her cheeks was too noticeable. "I - uh, it's stupid…. Never mind."

When he stroked the sharpness of her cheekbone with his thumb and leaned down to kiss the corner of her mouth, she closed her eyes with something like crave and entreaty.

"I bet it's not stupid." He said and she suddenly she turned her head to look away from him. Yeah, well that didn't work. He lifted her head back to him, gently. "What is it? Tell me."

"It really is. I regret that I even started this sentence…." Her palm squirmed underneath his grip.

"Kate, you know that I'll not let this go." He whispered, moving a strand of hair away from her forehead. "You started to say something. It clearly means that you wanted to say it."

"I want to, but I am not sure how you will react to it." She admitted.

"Well, tell me and we will see."

She let out a nervous sigh and looked up to him. "Uh, I am so going to regret this." She whispered more to herself and he stroked her cheek in encouragement. "You know I am a virgin, right?"

Rick nodded. "Yeah."

She closed her eyes in embarrassment and her jaw clenched, her teeth gritting. "After our talk earlier, I kind of thought about it. I kind of pictured, eh my first time with - well, it was with you. I don't know, but maybe it was because you were too sweet and understanding with the whole thing. Now you are probably thinking less of me for saying these-"

"Kate?" He smiled, noticing how warm she became after saying all of this. "You pictured us having sex?"

"Kind of, yeah." She bit on her lip.

"I did, too."

"You did?" Her eyes widened in disbelief.

"Yes, but I kind of felt really ashamed of myself, because it - just felt wrong thinking about you in this way when you just opened yourself at me."

"Well, don't." Her cheeks flushed for the hundredth time. "I want you to be my first, Rick."

"You do?" His eyebrows rose up.

"I trust you and sometime when the moment comes - I would want it to be with you." Her admission made him lean down to press his lips against hers and both of them smiled between the kiss.

"Wow, I - uh, I am glad that we are on the same page."

"We are." She said and he took her hand in his, blowing light kisses over her knuckles.

"It's getting kind of late, do you want to stay here? I - only if it's not too much, of course-"

"I was just about to ask you the same, actually." A chuckle escaped her mouth and he grinned like a kid on Christmas.

He pulled away from her to lie backwards on his side, dragging her gently with him, so she was half sprawled across his body. He covered them both with his blanket, sparing it for both of them. Her head was resting peacefully on his chest and his hand was drawing slow circles on her arms.

For the first time she was that close, so that she could hear his heartbeat, so clearly.

It was definitely a good night.


	19. Chapter 19

**I am letting you know that this chapter contains M rated stuff... : D**

* * *

It was Friday night when Rick has been already home sprawled on the couch, checking assignments and waiting for Kate to come at the loft. She sent him a message saying that she was going to be a little bit late, due the big traffic, so he waited. He couldn't wait to see her.

Not that he didn't see her today at lectures, but it was different. Seeing her outside of the university and his job was much nicer than standing at the writing board without being able to look at her as long as he wanted to. It was so much more to be able to embrace her, feel the sweet scent and touch the soft curls of her hair.

He really looked forward to hug her the moment she knocks on the door.

Besides that, he was really concerned about her. Today she was different in some way. It was the look in her eyes during lectures. Normally, Kate would be giving him shy smiles when nobody was watching, but today she was just following the lesson like everyone else did. Like he was just a regular Professor.

He didn't think much about it, because it could be something that his mind just settled up. Maybe she was just being careful and cautious.

It was normal, though. The education was really important for her and their relationship kind of distracted her lately. Which was not doing any goods for her.

But still he wanted to know if there was something else causing this gloomy mood. So when he heard someone trying to get in the loft, his head immediately whipped in the direction of the door. Then he heard keys.

 _Keys._

Kate didn't have keys, so obviously it couldn't be her.

"Richard, darling?" His mother cheered happily, entering the loft, followed by wheeling suitcase behind her.

 _Oh, well… Damn._

He totally forgot about his mother and that she will be back soon. It wasn't like he didn't want his own mother to be here, of course he did. He was happy to see her, but it has been so nice the past week to be with just Kate and himself. It was the only time they could be alone and have a normal conversation without hiding things.

Not to mention the fact that his mother didn't know about their hush-hush relationship and that Kate was going to arrive at any second, which would probably lead to awkwardness and numerous of endless questions from his mother.

"Hello, Mother." He stood up from the couch to help her retrieve the suitcase. "I didn't know you were coming back this early."

"Yeah, well… my part of the play was not one of the longest. Besides, Chet kind of thought it would be great to come back to New York given the circumstances and the fact that we both live in the same city." His mother explained devotedly filled with enthusiasm.

"Who is Chet?" He asked, furrowing brows.

She took off her gloves, putting them inside of her coat pockets to take the suitcase and wheel it towards her room. "Long story, darling. But don't you worry, he is a great behaving and rational gentleman. I met him at the hotel lobby and we kind of fell into deep conversation, which obviously led to another-"

"Uh, I think I heard quite enough." Rick's face scrunched at the image of his mother and some guy in a hotel.

 _Gross._

"I am happy, you're happy, though." He smiled. "And that you are back, so early." Well, this one was not the exact truth….

"And what about you, Richard, what have you been doing during my short trip to LA?"

"Actually, that's what I hoped I could talk about with you." He lifted up his hand to rub at the back of his neck, feeling nervous all of a sudden. "These days - more like the past months, actually… a lot of things happened. There was one person that I kind of met and-"

A quiet knock came from the living room and his mother waved her hand at him to stop him from opening the door. "That must be Chet, I told him your address to pick me up for tonight. I hope you don't mind for giving me this kind of information, but I promise he is a harmful guy. I'll go get it."

"Wait, mother-"

She was already heading, so the only thing he could do was to follow and hope that it was not Kate on the other side of the door.

Unfortunately, his hopes were devastated.

It was his mother who opened the door and Kate was on the other side, standing still and slightly wide-eyed at the sight of redhead instead of Rick.

"Ah!" His mother exclaimed, looking quite interested at the young woman. "How can I help you, dear? Are you-"

"Mother, hey – no." He appeared next to the older redhead at the door frame, looking quite apologetically at Kate, who was trying to behave like a normal human being instead of wild deer. "I was just about to tell you a couple of seconds ago about it. This is Kate and she is staying here at the moment."

Kate winced a little at his words and the uncertainty which was written all over his mother's face.

Well, that was kind of unexpected situation for the three of them. In the first place he didn't know that his mother was about to come today, second his mother didn't know anything about Kate and Kate didn't know she was going to be greeted by his mother on the door instead of him.

He really needed to do some explaining and talking.

"Mother, this is Kate and Kate this is Martha Rodgers. As you already had noticed, she is my lovely mother. And mother, Kate is a – uh, a friend of mine." His brows furrowed at his own words, because it felt terribly wrong. He shot her an apologetic look when his mother didn't look and she simply returned with a small nervous smile. Something that told him she knew what he meant and that it was just for their cover.

"Come in, Kate." He gestured for her to come inside, his mother nodding and making space for her.

"Right. I am sorry, I am totally out of manners tonight. Of course, let the girl come in first, darling." She waved a hand around the air, dramatically.

Kate just dumbly stepped through the threshold and strode inside, feeling the awkwardness caress the air between them.

"I, uh, actually I was about to go around the corner and get something to eat from the market, so I am going to go." Kate said in mumbling voice, showing with her thumb at the door and Rick's eyes lighted up.

He knew she was just making an excuse to escape, so he held up a hand at her. "Wait, - I am coming with you, just let me put on something warmer." And he disappeared into his bedroom.

"There was no need, you know?" Kate's head whipped around to glance at the older woman's certain look.

"Excuse me?" She asked.

Oh, Lord, did he really had to leave her alone with his mother? It wasn't like the woman was bad or something, but Kate was not really one of the most talkative people. Especially, with a high standing and older people. She knew his mother was performing and successful actress.

"I was about to leave sometime soon, anyways. You don't need to wander around the streets, because of me. It's really cold outside."

"Oh, no, Mrs. Rodgers, it's not because of you. I was really considering on going to the market, but my money is in my other jacket, which is here, so I came here to take them."

"I understand, darling - don't feel obliged to explain yourself to me." The redhead said sweetly and Kate relaxed a little bit, nodding. "And please don't call me Mrs. Rodgers. Makes me feel old. You can call me, Martha."

"Nice to meet you, Martha." She nodded once again and Rick's mother offered a handshake, which Kate gladly responded to.

"So is it just Kate or Katerina, Katherine?"

"It's Katherine, but people call me Kate."

"It's really beautiful and influential name." Martha said lost in thoughts about the name. "It kind of reminds me of the famous and powerful Catherine de' Medici, a 16th-century French queen."

Kate bobbed her head twice in acknowledgement. "For a time she ruled France as its regent. I remember that she had extensive, if at times varying, influence in the political life of France. It was one of my favorite topics of history at the time."

"To be honest, I liked you from the first moment I saw you, but now I can't say I don't like you even more. Beautiful and smart." Martha winked and Kate blushed, standing there quietly, wondering where he hell is Rick.

"And incredibly young, what do you do for a living?"

And that was the question, which brought the anxiety back. What was she supposed to say? She was her son's "friend" and she was staying at his loft, didn't it kind of gave her a hint that she wasn't doing anything? Hopefully not, because that would awake suspicion in the fact that she was still a student. Which would lead to other things, because Rick was a teacher. It would be really bad if someone ever understands about this. She couldn't spill out the secret, but she couldn't figure what to say, either.

Thankfully, Prince Charms finally came back and rescued her from the questioning redhead. "I had to find my keys, sorry." He said to Kate and then noticed the tension going on between them. He knew his mother said something that clearly made Kate look, so thoughtful and nervous. Instead of deepening the situation, he simply kissed his mother on the cheeks and told her to call him, heading outside of the loft with Kate.

* * *

For unknown reason the market around the corner was closed, so they searched for another one.

He knew that Kate wasn't determined to buy something and that there wasn't really anything important to get, but he walked quietly beside her, anyways.

There was something wrong with her and it he was not sure what caused it. He wasn't sure if it would be accurate to ask about it or just stay quiet. He decided to stay quiet, but that didn't mean he wouldn't do other things.

For example, holding her hand.

She was walking in a straight line on the sidewalk when she felt cold fingers grab her hand, reaching across her hand to where their palms were centered, making an X with their hands. As he gently closed his hand, wrapping his fingers and thumb around the edges of her hand, she abruptly pulled her hand away from his.

"Rick!" She hissed, stopping in her tracks to notice the hurt flashing into his blue eyes. "We are in public."

"So?" He asked, inching closer to her, but she made a step backwards to distance herself.

"There are people and some of them could happen to be from the university. You don't want someone to see us, right?" Before he could say something else, she was turning around to continue walking.

It made him inhale and exhale through his nose a few times before jogging after her. When he reached her side, he gently clasped her hand in his again and interlocked their fingers, so she couldn't escape this time. "Kate, stop."

She did.

"Come on, we'll go to the market another time." He tugged at her hand to make her follow him, waiting for the lights to turn red and cross the walkway.

"Where are we going?" She looked down at their interlocked hands and then up at his non- characteristic face.

"You'll see." Was his only answer.

They passed a few blocks and then she realized where he was taking her.

This place was much nicer during the summer when it was green. Now it was dark, empty and abandoned park. Completely lifeless, but it was the nearest place that they could go to without many people around.

They chose the nicest bench (there wasn't much of a choice) in the park and sat down, looking ahead of them at the empty playground.

"Something's bothering you." She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off. "You are different and I can't help, but wonder if I did something wrong? If I did, please tell me what it is. I don't want there to be uncertainty between us."

 _Good job, Kate._

She actually made him think that he was the reason for her inexplicable mood and blame himself. "What? No, Rick, it's not you. Don't blame yourself on this."

He sighed heavily, turning his body to her side on the bench, so his knees were bumping against hers. "You know I am not a magician or predictor and I can't always see things."

Her head dipped a little bit and he took her hand in his once again. "Look, I don't want you to feel obliged to tell me everything, but something is clearly bothering you."

"I know." She nodded, her face hidden behind the curls of her hair. He heard her sniffle, which made him inch closer to her, so he was able to lift her chin gently.

When he looked at her, there were already forming tears in her hazy eyes. "What is happening in the beautiful head of yours?"

"I am 20." Her eyes lifted up to look at his and confusion crossed his features, which made her lips curve into small, watery smile.

It took him a couple of seconds to understand her statement and then his mouth formed 'o' when the realization hit him. "It's your birthday?"

"Yeah." She sniffled again, clearing her throat to be able to speak more clearly.

Rick fumbled through his pockets to take out his phone and look at the screen.

"November 17th." He mumbled and then his brows furrowed in deep disorientation. "Why didn't you tell me, Kate?"

Oh, well she could tell that he was disappointed.

Her arms, shrugged. "Because I don't feel like - having a birthday. I don't think I'll ever will, honestly."

"What makes you think that?"

"It's just like that."

"Kate, it's your birthday!" He exclaimed like a little child, looking at her with anticipation. "You can't just act like you don't have a birthday. It's your day and you should be feeling happy and spoiled, instead of… ignoring it."

"Do you know that since my mother's funeral, I haven't visited her grave even once? That's eleven months, Rick. I don't really feel like partying around when there's so much weight on my mind. It wouldn't be the same without my mom. Everything has changed and it will never be the same again." She confessed on heavy sigh, trying to control her emotions.

He knew about her mother, but it didn't occur to him that she didn't want to celebrate because of it. And he hated himself for this, because she was completely right and no one would have fun with so much sorrow and weight on their arms. How could someone who lost his mother could be celebrating? Eleven months were pretty fresh for the loss of a person.

"My mom doesn't deserve this. Nobody does. God knows how much grown weeds and dead leaves are blooming over her grave. I tried a couple of times to gather some courage and go, just go and take care of it, but I can't. It's so _fucking_ hard for me to go there." She cursed under her breath, fumbling with the hands in her lap, no longer in Rick's grip. "I wish my father was sober enough to go and take care of it, but… I guess he'll never be and I will have to take it on my own."

His head lowered at the things she admitted to him. "I can do it." Kate froze for a second at his suggestion, but then he saw her shaking her head.

"No, I can't ask you to that."

"How about if we do it together?" He raised an eyebrow and she bit on her lip in consideration. _Together_. She kind of liked the thought of it, but there was still a little uncertainty in her. "I mean, it doesn't have to be right now, but whenever you feel ready…."

"We'll see." She shrugged sadly. "Thanks for suggesting, though."

"Anytime."

* * *

On their way back to his loft, Rick suddenly squeezed Kate's hand to make her stop from walking and look up at his face. It took her a while to realize that he was staring at some kind of around-the-clock confectionery shop with the inscription 'Sweet Heaven'. She knew what he was thinking.

"Look, they are baking."

"I can see that." She chuckled and he shifted big eyes to her.

"Hey, I know you said you don't feel like partying and things like that, but – how about we do a little celebration?" A little uncertainty and reluctance flashed into Kate's eyes. "It's not going to be something big and considerable, just a birthday cake and we can even order some pizza. Whatcha' say?"

She noticed how important it was for him. The holidays, the celebration and it was really refreshing to be with that kind of person. He just wanted to make her happy and all she did was running and hiding. It was not fair.

At least she could do was to thank him for everything by letting him in.

"Alright, let's get some cake."

"Yes!" He pumped up his hand in the air, smiling at the small triumph.

* * *

Thankfully, Martha has been already out when they came back home, so they wouldn't have to deal with – well with his mother.

After all, they decided to make a mini movie marathon on the couch with food and drinks. He brought extra pillows and blankets to make it comfy and to make sure Kate was relaxed and cozy, so they wouldn't need to pause for anything - it would ruin the movie.

At least two movies were needed or else it wouldn't really be a marathon. A good amount would be about four or five, but they got tired of watching after the second one. But they were not tired of eating, yet.

When they finished the pepperoni pizza, Rick took out the éclair cake from the fridge and sliced it for the two of them. He didn't push her to spirit candles, because after all he didn't want her to feel forced to do something that she clearly didn't want to. Just having the cake was enough for now.

After the incredible sweet cake they were full. That full that the thought of more food made them feel sick. The movie ended and they sighed happily at the sweet and fortunate finale. The screen of the TV turned itself down and Rick looked sluggishly at Kate who was yawning.

"Do you want to sleep?"

"Sleep?" Her brows furrowed. "Not, yet. I want to cuddle a little bit with you."

His eyebrows rose in surprise and before he could form a sentence, she was wrapping her arms around his torso, snuggling herself tightly against him. She breathed in the fresh scent of him and sighed in satisfaction. "Thank you."

"There's no need." He rubbed her arm, soothingly. "I want you to feel happy, Kate. Honestly, today was not one of the cheeriest birthdays, but it's enough for me to know that it's some kind of a memory for you and that you are not lonely on that day. I want you to know that somebody cares whether you have a birthday or not."

"I am happy with you." She pressed her nose further into his shoulder blade.

"I am happy with you, too." His hand stroked the back of her scalp in soothing motions. "But I wanted you to associate this day with something more than pizza and cake."

Kate was silent for a couple of seconds and he worried that he said something wrong, but then she lifted up a little to place her left foot over his left hip and straddle him. She lowered herself down on him slowly and wrapped her arms around his neck. His glowing and dazed eyes found hers.

 _God, she was gorgeous._

It took him by surprise, because this was the first time that she was so intimately close to him and he couldn't help, but let some arousal wash over his body. "Maybe we could associate it with something."

"Like what?" He asked numbly, swallowing the lump in his throat.

"We could… do something more than make out?" She winced at her own words. God damn she sounded so stupid. But what else could she say to give the man a hint?

"Wha – wow, I am not really sure what you have in mind, but Kate are sure about this?" He became nervous all of sudden.

Wasn't he supposed to be the one with confidence and courage to talk about things like this?

"Yeah, I think so." She blushed slightly and bit on her bottom lip as she lifted up her hips to rub them over his already formed bugle. His breath hitched at her unexpected movement and his wide eyes lifted down at their bodies to notice that she was wearing yoga pants and her legs were bare. _Shit._ "We could try?"

Something really wild gotten into her. For the first time she felt such desire and craving for a guy. For him.

"Uh, Kate – I am not sure, I mean-"He stumbled over his words and something like shame and disgrace covered her features.

"I am sorr-, I shouldn't have-"She started pulling away from him, but he caught her by the hips before she could move.

"Wait, hear me out, Kate." He gripped her hips, holding her to him. "I want you. Don't you ever doubt that. Okay?"

Her cheeks flushed at his admission.

"I just don't want you to do something that you would regret." Rick explained sweetly.

"I won't."

He smiled at how eager she was, but then the seriousness overcame him again.

"We are not prepared for this. We don't have any condoms and I assume you don't have pills with you, right?" She nodded with a little shake of her head in disappointment.

"We could go and buy some?" She suggested shyly and he chuckled sweetly.

"I have another suggestion for you and I think you might like it."

"What is it?" She blinked at him curiously.

"We could start with something else, but not - sex, yet." Her eyes crinkled in confusion. "Do you, uh – want to try?"

"Yeah." She agreed impatiently and he smirked.

For a simple start he brought up his hands to her face to attach their lips in a passionate and hot-blooded kiss. She willingly responded by opening her mouth against his, feeling the stroke of his hand on her bare tights. Her muscles flexed of their own volition, her body flushed with slick and hot arousal.

One of the hands over her hip shifted it, so that it was resting flat against her stomach. The ache that had been building was tightening, and she had to clamp her teeth over her lower lip to keep her breathing regular.

She already had in mind what he meant.

Trailing his hands just above the top of her yoga pants, he allowed himself to finally slip his fingers under the hem of her pants and stroke her bundle of nerves.

She sucked in a breath when she felt his fingers stroke her, so intimately and good, it made her hips jolt in surprise and pleasure. "Rick, - oh my,"

 _Fuck_ – it was the first time someone did something like this to her.

His mouth found hers to swallow the moan that escaped her lips, which by the way was the first time he heard something, so hot and wild come out of her mouth.

He looked forward to hear and see more of this.

His traces were faint, tight circles against her throbbing clit and it made her crave for more, which made her unconsciously grind herself against his hand.

He knew exactly how to get her all worked up and wanting.

Her head fell back when he hit her just at the right spot, clutching at his shoulders. She needed to find something to grip, something that would help her. _Damn._

His strokes were still very light and delicate, so she placed her hand over his to grind her hips roughly over his fingers, groaning at the satisfaction. "I think, - _oh_ , I'm going to-."

He dipped his index finger deeper in response, tightening and tightening and tightening. And oh – _fuck_ that thing he was doing to her clit was absolutely illegal.

Everything behind her eyelids went bright, and then she was shuddering in his arms, her mouth open in a loud moan as the orgasm swept through her. Then she was boneless, against him, lowering her head to rest it against his shoulder and calm her increased breathing.

 _Rick just made her come._

"Happy 20th birthday, Kate." He whispered against her ear, as he carefully drew his hand away from her damp pants.

* * *

 **Kinky enough? Tell me what do you think. :)**


	20. Chapter 20

"First, let's begin with the Book of Ruth." He showed the book he was holding at the students. "Can someone tell me when was the Book of Ruth set?"

The whole classroom was silent and after a couple of seconds he noticed a raised hand at the corner of his eye.

Rick smiled when he fathomed who was the one holding up a hand. It was Kate. Her face was stretched into a wide smile, waiting for the chance to say the answer.

"Miss Beckett?" He gestured her politely in front of the people to talk.

"It was set in the days of the Judges; that's the opening line of the book. It tells you that this happened in the days of the Judges, but it was certainly written later." She spoke with a little shyness in her voice, looking for his reaction. He simply nodded in improvement and averted his gaze at the book.

"That's the simplest and shortest way of answering this question, thank you." He said softly. "As the story of a foreign woman, whose foreign status is continually emphasized throughout the book…"

Kate listened to the lesson, but somewhere between the lines she completely lost it and stopped listening. She stared at him instead. It was something that happened naturally, she wanted to focus on the book, but it was impossible to do it when he looked, so handsome and _fuck_ \- the things he did to her last night bugged her brain with images. Mostly images, but the sense of his touch, too.

Looking at his rolled up sleeves and muscular hands, her eyes traveled down to his fingers and she unconsciously licked her bottom lip. She remembered the way his thick fingers slipped under the hem of her pants and _shit_ \- she shouldn't have thought of this. At least not here. Craving for his faint and light touches, she felt wetness pooling down between her legs, which was kind of frustrating given the circumstances.

The good thing was that she was in the back of the room and she could rub her tights together in peace without anyone noticing.

Except that he may have noticed.

The students were writing something he showed them on the writing board in their notebooks, which gave him the opportunity to look at her. Her cheeks were slightly flushed and he swallowed thickly, loosening a little bit the tie around his neck. Damn, she was hot like this. But he quickly sobered up when one of the students raised up a hand to ask a question.

When he had the chance he gave her a faint of smile in something like a promise.

A promise that they'll have the chance to be close to each other and talk at the end of that day.

He had something in mind.

* * *

Finally, Kate finished lectures and made the pre-law preparatory exam the teacher gave them. It was preparation for the big one they had to do by the end of the semester and at the end of the year and it was pretty hard material. She knew that studying law was not one of the easiest things on the planet, but she could manage. It just takes a lot of balance and work.

Like everything else on this planet.

Kate was just leaving the library when someone called her name from behind. "Kate?"

It was Lanie, running in the corridor to catch up with her.

"Hey, what's up-"

"Don't you what's up-me, we need to talk." Her friend dragged her by the sleeve of her sweater, through the crowd of people. "Where the hell have you been, I searched for you around the whole building!?"

"Whoa, wait - I was in the library, besides you could've called on my phone instead of searching for me."

"Well, I tried." Her friend inhaled heavily, walking with Kate towards the exit. "You didn't pick up."

Kate's face scrunched in apology. "Uh, I must've put it on silent mode during the exam, sorry."

"Right." Lanie rolled her eyes in irritation and then she stopped in front of Kate at the parking lot with crossed arms. Her boot was tapping on the asphalt in something like expectation. Kate really didn't know why she looked so angry. "I need an explanation."

"About what?" Kate's eyebrows furrowed in a lack of uniformity.

"Well, about the fact that the whole time during lectures you were sneaking sweet glances at our Literature Professor?" Lanie spoke in an unnecessarily loud voice, making Kate's whole body frame tense and her pupils blow out of her face.

"Lanie, what the-"

"Oh, how about the fact that he actually responded to those sweet glances?"

"-hell…"

"And please don't tell me this is not true, I've been trying to figure out what is going on for a month and after today - well, I am pretty convinced that there-"

"Lanie, stop." Kate held up her hand, raising her voice a little. "Could we not talk about this here?"

Her friend nodded dumbly and they headed for the coffee shop around the corner.

Kate couldn't say she wasn't shocked, but she expected it sooner or later. It was normal for someone to notice and it was making her go crazy at the thought of someone else noticing. Because, Lanie, well she was pretty upset and mad about the fact that Kate was hiding something, but she knew that she would never go and spill it out in front of people. On purpose.

About spilling it out accidentally…, she wasn't so sure about that. But she had to make sure, because no one should ever understand about this. It was too risky.

After ordering and finding a booth to sit, her friend placed her hands over the table and gave her the look.

Kate rolled her eyes and sighed, feeling her hands tremble a little. Okay, she had to tell her, obviously. She never shared with people about her relationships before and the fact that this was not one of the most-accurate relationships around the world was making it even harder.

"I am happy." Lanie's features softened a bit at Kate's confession. "It's wrong and inappropriate, but I am really happy."

"So you - admit that there is something between the two of you?" Lanie asked in a calmer tone, looking at Kate with curiosity. "You and Prof. Rodgers?"

Kate nodded nervously, biting on the inside of her cheek, expecting numerous of questions from her friend, but she just remained calm and asked "For how long, I mean - how long have you seen each other and stuff?"

"Uh, it's - we kind of started becoming closer from the start. Since my first day here. I went through a lot of things, you know?" Lanie nodded, encouraging her to continue. "It was pretty obvious that someone was assaulting me and he was the only one, except for you, of course that got intrigued and offered me some help. At first I really thought it's crazy and really inappropriate, it is, but I - he made everything much easier. He made me believe that there is a chance and possibility in everything. It just happened."

"How did it happen, how - damn it, girl, this is so amazing! Tell me more." Her friend exclaimed happily, making Kate calm a little.

"So you are not telling anyone?"

"Of course, I am not. I would never share something that is not about me with other people. I just - I would've appreciated it if you told me."

"Lanie, it's something new to me, hell I didn't even know what was happening a week ago. I was horrified and scared; please try to look at it from my point of view. It's not that I don't want to share things with you."

"Yeah, okay. I really understand. I am not judging you." Lanie bobbed her head, stroking Kate's hand on the top of the table. "I would have done the same."

Kate's lips curved into a sweet smile, thankful that she was blessed with such an understanding friend. The waitress came with their orders, placing the cups of coffee in front of them. As Kate was pouring some sugar in her coffee, Lanie smirked and folded arms around her chest. "I want details."

Kate laughed and shook her head. "Go ahead, ask."

"Tell me about your first kiss."

* * *

Sharing these things with Lanie made her realize just how beautiful her and Rick's relationship was. It was so much more than that, she couldn't even use words to express all of it. Extraordinary, magical, enchanting…

It was everything.

He was her everything.

And traveling in the bus in the direction of his loft gave her the opportunity to think. To emphasize the things that happened in such a small period of time. It was mind-blowing how a single person could change so many things.

Looking outside at the pouring rain, through the vehicle's big mirror, she stared at the bus stop they passed. The bus stop where he kissed her for the first time. It returned her the sweet flavor of his mouth inside of hers, making her chew on her lip. She smiled at the memory of them running through the big rainstorm and then when she left, forgetting to give him the jacket.

She kept it.

* * *

After greeting the doorman and taking the elevator, she arrived in front of his door. She knocked a couple of times, but there was no response. _Huh._

Waiting a couple of seconds, she tried ringing of his phone, but he hanged up. She frowned at her phone screen and as she was wondering whether to leave or stay a little longer, she received a message.

 **It's unlocked.**

After reading it a couple of times, she looked up at his door and then stepped closer to turn down the door knob. Normally she would knock or call him on the phone, but this was the first time she entered his loft on her own. Odd.

Stepping through the threshold, she took off her coat and placed it on the hanger, shaking off the water from the umbrella. After taking off her boots she looked around the loft and it was oddly quiet and dark. Really odd.

"Rick?" She called out, but she met with deep silence. Something caught her attention in the corner of her eye. It was a dim light coming from the kitchen, so she quickly directed herself towards it.

Strolling inside the kitchen she glanced around and gasped in surprise at the sight in front of her. The kitchen was beautifully decorated with roses and other kinds of simple and elegant flowers. The table was set with deliciously prepared food for two people and lighted up candles with the scent of vanilla. The whole room was flickering with the shadows of candles and there was Terredora di Paolo bottle of wine in the middle of the table with little ribbon on it.

It was magical, mind-blowing, and really unexpected.

The arms that wrapped around her from behind were pretty unexpected, too. It caused her to jump a little, but when he giggled at the side of her ear, she immediately turned around to be able look at his face.

 _Wow._

She almost dropped on the floor at the sight of him. He was dressed in formal pants and white button-up with black bow tie around his neck. The clothes were making his muscles and good shape reveal through the material, his hair was combed to one side in adorable and at the same time very handsome way and she couldn't form a sentence out. Even a word.

 _Speechless._

"Hey, beautiful." He grinned down at her and she swallowed thickly, gazing at his shining blue eyes.

"Rick?" Her voice trembled from happiness and astonishment. "Wh - what's the occasion?"

"No occasion." He simply shrugged and clasped her hands in his, interlock their fingers together. "I just want to spoil my beautiful girlfriend after a hard day at lectures."

"Wow, I - I don't know what to say, I am literally on the verge of tears right now." She laughed through watery smile and brushed one of the happy tears that slid down on her cheek.

"No tears, tonight, Kate." He brought his forehead against hers and she felt his warm breath wash over her lips. "Only joy and happiness, that's the rules."

"We should follow the rules, then." She whispered and he pressed a lingering kiss against her mouth.

What she did to deserve such a wonderful man?

* * *

 **...To Be Continued...**

 **Thank you all for the great response.**

 **Have a great day!**


	21. Chapter 21

**Note this chapter as M rated.**

* * *

After kissing her slowly, but not for too long he decided to pull away and take her hand instead. He pulled the chair for her and offered her a gentle smile, which she returned and then sat down on the chair. The next thing he did was searching through the drawers for corkscrew to be able to open the wine. After doing it, he poured some of the clear red wine with a touch of brown at the rim in what was supposed to be Kate's cup and then in his own.

She inhaled sharply, taking her time to observe everything he did for that night. It was quiet and magical in its own way. It was something that she had never experienced before. No one has ever cared so much about her and she had never felt so much for someone else, either.

Candles were flickering around the space, filling the air with sweet and lightweight scent. The table was beautifully set with warm food and desserts. The only things from the food that she recognized were the Bacon Cheddar Waffles with honey in the shape of hearts. There were strawberries, too.

Placing a hand over her stomach in case some grumbling sound decides to come out, Rick took the opposite seat on the table, so he was facing her.

"I am not the president, you know?" He teased and she lifted confused eyes at him. "You can eat, Kate."

 _Oh._

Her head bobbed twice and when she took the fork to taste of what looked like very delicious spaghetti, she moaned at the scrumptious and delicious flavor that enveloped her mouth.

He grinned at her reaction, feeling his sternum fill with a little pride and gratification. "You like it?"

"Oh, my – Rick how did you make this? It's amazing!" She exclaimed, joy written over her face, digging in her plate to taste some more.

"I assume that means you like it, then." He said sweetly before shoving fork into his own plate to see the result of his chef skills and abilities.

"What is it?" She pointed at the tastiest food with curiosity. "I love your paper bag sandwiches, but I never thought that you are good at cooking."

It was true. Until now they had always ordered pizza or some other junk food. Sometimes they went out for Chinese, but he never revealed his cooking skills to her.

"Uh, I've made this dish multiple times for my mother's guests. It's only me and my mother and she is not one of the best known chefs, so I decided to teach myself how to cook on my own." He explained, taking a sip from his cup of wine. "I actually invented this recipe, before knowing that it's on the internet. One day I was scrolling until I saw something really similar to my spaghetti. It turned out that the meal is called Roasted spaghetti squash with sausage."

"Sausage?" She looked down at her plate.

"I put bacon instead of sausage. It's much better. Or pepperoni, it's good too."

Kate hummed with joy and took a sip of her own from the big glass, tasting the red wine.

They talked about his and hers day and when Kate reminded herself what happened with Lanie today, she decided to remain silent. At least for now. Why ruin such a great dinner with worries? _It could wait._

Besides, she made sure that Lanie made a promise to zip her mouth and not spit it out accidentally.

No reason to worry, they just had to be more careful with those sweet glances during lectures.

Her thoughts were pushed away when Rick asked if she wanted them to start the desert and she gratefully accepted. On top of everything he took out ice-cream from his fridge and served it among the cheddar waffles. _Vanilla, yummy._

After finishing their deserts, he made sure she had eaten well and then he stood up. Before she could figure out what was going on, he turned on the stereo, and a song started playing. Going to her side he perceived the surprise in her eyes and then offered her a hand. "Dance with me?"

 _Oh, man._

She knew this song.

 _Te sourire dehors, a Angoulême_

 _Un chasse-spleen Melchior, Paris-seychelles._

Kate stood up on her shaky legs and took his offered hand, moving with him closer to the music provider.

He placed his right hand on her left hip side and his left hand gently grasped her right hand, holding it up at about shoulder-level. They swayed slowly to the rhythm of the song, sneaking shy glances at each other. She was so nervously happy that the muscles in her face will start hurting soon if she didn't stop smiling.

 _Te sourire dehors, a Angouleme…_

"Un chasse-spleen melchior, Paris-seychelles-" she sang along with the song and lyrics and Rick pulled back a little to look at her in astonishment.

"You know this song, wait – you speak French?" He asked in disbelief and saw her nodding her head slightly. "Is there something you don't know or can't do? Because since I met you – you do everything, really."

A cute chuckle escaped her mouth, hiding her head at the skin of his neck, smiling cautiously. "I can't juggle."

"I'll teach you." She felt him laughing next to her ear, his Adam apple bobbing up and down.

They fell into a silent slow dance, listening to the lyrics and beats of the song.

 _Le temps que l'eau se pose,_

 _Sur nos ronces lilas._

"My mother knows." His admission made her breath caught in her throat and he lifted thoughtful eyes at her.

"You told her about _us_?" She asked, insecurely.

"Yeah, well, actually no – I guess she just figured it out by herself."

"And how did she react, what did she say?"

Since her first meeting with his mother, Kate was left with the impression that this woman was unusually different.

In a good way, of course.

Kate hoped that she didn't leave a bad impression about herself, though.

"I think that she seemed to be pretty understanding about the whole thing." He smiled at the memory of this morning in the kitchen with him on the phone with his mother. "And curious."

 _"_ _Richard, – this whole 'friend' thing… you know I am not slow, right?" His mother spoke in a doubtful tone from the other line._

 _Rick sighed, running an uneasy and at the same time annoyed hand through his slick hair._

 _He needed to take a shower and he was going to be late for work._

 _"_ _Mother, she is just a friend. I already told you that she doesn't have anywhere to go at, so I – I couldn't just leave her like that. I care about my friends."_

 _"_ _Yeah, darling, you did a really good deed, except for the fact that she is your student. It wasn't hard to notice." She said in a playful tone, more like a tease than disapproval._

 _His hand was now gripping on the roots of his hair. "I am telling you, we are just friends. By the way I am already late, so I'll-"_

 _"_ _Fine, alright. I am not going to push it, Richard." She spoke in a more serious tone. "Your private life needs to stay private. I understand, but I am still pretty convinced that there's something between you two. I really just – hope you are happy. It's all that matters to me."_

 _Oh, well she kind of made him feel bad for not sharing it with her._

 _"_ _Thank you, mother." He spoke, softly. "I hope you are happy with Ched, as well."_

 _"_ _I am, darling. Just be careful, okay?"_

 _"_ _Okay." He promised and they ended the call._

Rick knew that his mother knew about their confidential relationship. It was pretty obvious, but he couldn't just admit something like that. Especially to his mother. _Not right._

Besides the situation with him and Kate was pretty secretive and unusual at the moment. Part of him was cautious and wary to admit to his mother that he was dating his student. It was wrong, just thinking about telling such thing to her. _Maybe it was._

Maybe it was, but the heart wanted what the heart wanted. And his heart craved for Kate Beckett. The most important thing was that it was mutual.

At least, he hoped it was mutual.

"She likes you, I am pretty sure things will be just fine." He spoke reassuringly, noticing the lines on her face caused by worry. "Everybody likes you."

She huffed, rolling her eyes still swaying her hips in a slow dance with him. "That's not true."

"Think of it as you want, but I am just telling you the truth." He spoke in a voice filled with honesty. "You are beautiful and on top of that you are incredibly smart. Not many women have these two abilities."

Her head dipped down in shyness, hiding her face against the fabric of his shirt. "Stop, you're making me blush."

A soft chuckle escaped his lips, bending down to kiss the crown of her head.

He wanted to have her like this forever. In his arms, secured, relaxed and happy. He hoped she was happy, because whenever she was happy he was too.

It warmed his heart.

Since Rick has seen her for the first time, he started falling in _love_ with her more and more with each passing day and week.

 _Wait, wha- love?_

It hit him hard, because it was true. It was the reality. He was in love with _her_. Deeply in love. He had never felt anything so significant and huge about other women.

She pulled away to look up at his thoughtful face and it made him realize how tense he had become. "You okay?"

"Uh, yeah." Blue eyes met with hazel, making their heart rhythm fasten. "Do you want to eat some more?"

 _Changing the topic – nice safe_

Kate shook her head, smiling softly. "I ate enough, thank you."

"So what do you want to do, then?" His brow raised in a funny way.

She shrugged, trapping her bottom lip with her teeth and then soothing the flesh with her tongue. "I don't know. Do you have something particular in mind?"

 _Oh, he noticed what she did here._

"Well, we could watch a movie, dance some more or try something new…" His voice became huskier at the last part of the sentence. "I am open to suggestions."

"Something new?" She asked and watched as his arms shrugged unsurely.

"Yeah, we could go and play some rugby." He said and for a second there she believed him and her eyebrows knotted in a funny way. "I even have All Blacks uniform that would fit perfectly for you."

"Uh, okay – if that's what you want to do tonight I'm-"His head tipped backwards in laughter and she swatted him on the arm earning a little whine from him.

"Not funny." She mumbled and he sobered up, because _yeah – that was a little bit of a jackass._ He shouldn't have killed the mood like that. Such an idiot.

"Hey," the music in the background turned off itself and he gently took her hand in his, stopping their dance. "I am sorry, I am just a little bit nervous and it sometimes makes me a little bit of a jackass. I totally killed off the mood."

"You did." Her lips curved into a sweet smile. "You better fix it."

"Oh?" He looked curiously at her. "And how am I supposed to do that?"

"Think of something." She shrugged comically, wicked smile covering her features. "It won't be that easy-"

Before she could finish the sentence his hands were positioned over her hips to hoist her up from the floor, making her legs wrap around his middle. "Rick!" She gasped, losing balance.

He chuckled next to her ear and she growled. "What the – give me some warning before doing stunts like that!"

"Uh – Huh." The next thing he did was putting her on the top of the counter, her butt colliding with the cold plot. "It's more fun like that." His wine breath washed over her face, making her realize how intimately close they were.

Her eyes lifted up to look at the stubble of his jaw, extending a hand to trace the lines of his bow tie. He followed her movements slowly, feeling the deep silence filling the air around them. She was gorgeous.

"Kate, I –"He opened his mouth to speak and then suddenly stopped, bringing up a hand to her cheek instead. "I wondered if you'd like to, uh – try?"

"Try what?" She bit on the inside of her cheek, her insides flipping from exhilaration. She knew what he meant by that and it awakened huge excitement in her; she just had to make sure he was thinking about the same thing.

"It's really awkward talking about this in this way, but I want to make sure you are okay with it. I don't want to push you into anything, Kate. I want to make sure you want this and if you are not ready, I am determined to wait as long as it takes." He became nervous all of sudden and her heart thrummed frequently against her ribs.

"Are you sure you want me to be your first?" He asked, insecurely.

 _Oh, God._

He looked at her with so much _love_ and care; it made her trust him with all of her heart. She trusted him from a long time ago, but with other things. And now… she wanted to trust him with this, too.

"Of course, I want you to be my first, Rick. I already told you this. There's no doubt in that, but – I," she breathed nervously through her nostrils, fumbling with the hem of her shirt. "I am really scared. Lots of people told me how much it hurts and things like that…"

"Kate," he lifted up her chin to make her look at him. "You should stop listening to the other people and let yourself have your own experience. Besides, if it hurts you too much I promise to stop. I'll be gentle and I am sure you'll like it."

 _This man._

He really made everything, so much easier and simple.

"Do you want it? You need to be sure about this," he murmured, sympathy in his tone.

"Yes, I want it. I want it to be with you." She nodded eagerly, feeling her breathing becoming very irregular. Tilting her head, she looked up at him and saw his eyes darken with desire.

The next thing she was aware of was the fact that she wasn't sitting on the counter anymore. She was still wrapped around his body and neck, feeling him spin them around to walk in the direction of his bedroom. It was a little bit unexpected and fast, but it was better this way. She had lack of time to overthink it.

Besides, it was good that he was in charge, at least this night. It was about to become their _first night._

 _They are actually going to do this._

Rick approached the king-sized bed slowly, until his knees were hitting the side of it. His forehead rested against hers, her eyes large and close, and his breath fanning across her lips.

Finally, when he gently let himself to press his knee against the mattress, Rick lowered her backwards on the bed, so she was lying flat and waiting. _Beautiful._ After positioning himself on top of her, he looked down at her glittering eyes and lowered his lips to her ear, whispering, "Say stop at any time, okay?" He met her eyes once more, and searched them. "Whenever you need." he told her, his tone quiet but firm.

Kate held his gaze and nodded with a silent promise to him.

With nimble fingers, he popped the dome of her jeans, and slid the zipper down. She stood quietly while he eased the denim down her legs, and helped her to take them off. The next thing he helped her was the sweatshirt. Pulling it over her head, he gave himself the permission to look down at her small breasts hidden beneath the material of the bra. It made him hold his breath at the beautiful sight of her so exposed and _hot_ – it was new side of her that he had never seen until now. He knew she had an amazing body, he noticed numerous of times the length of her long and creamy legs when she was wearing yoga pants. But seeing her like that, ready and wanting, craving for him… it made him realize that he was staring for too long. "Wow, you are beautiful."

She swallowed thickly, watching as he bent his head closer to capture the line of her throat with his mouth. He nipped gently and then soothed the skin with soft kisses, moving to her collarbone. He was marking her. "I'll never intend to hurt you, Kate. No one will ever hurt you."

"Rick." She whispered, bringing up her hands to stroke the sides of his face. The next thing she was aware of was that he was going lower, lower…. And – _fuck,_ his mouth landed on her right breast, peppering it with light kisses moving onto the other. Her hands were now slightly gripping on his brown and soft hair.

Pulling away from her chest, he unbuttoned his own shirt, throwing it on the floor. His fingertips moved up her inner thigh, skimming her skin, and she spread her legs a little wider, shivering slightly as he trailed ever higher. He knelt between her legs, and made contact with her through her panties, the pads of his fingers pressing the silky smooth material against her clit. She gasped and his face was so close, his lips sliding over hers. She sucked in a breath.

Teasing her through her panties, she moaned as each brush of his finger increased the pressure. And then, he suddenly stopped, tugging her panties down swiftly, leaving her exposed and bare in front of him. Her cheeks were burning from being fully naked, but the look on his face was telling her that – he liked the sight in front of him.

More than _like_ , even.

Hearing the sound of a zipper, she realized that he was tugging off his own pants, standing in his boxers. She averted shy eyes down at him and noticed the formed bulge over the material, making her swallow hard. A quiet chuckle escaped his lips and then he bent down once again to capture her mouth. "Okay?" He moved a strand of hair behind her ear, watching her with anticipation.

"Yeah." She nodded, cautiously. "Condom?"

"Right," He quickly pulled himself away to search through the drawers of his nightstand, finding a pack of condoms. "I am all prepared."

She chuckled shyly at his silliness, but when he straightened up to pull off his boxers her eyes bugged out at the sight in front of her. He was big. Really _big_ , _fuck-_

He smirked at her reaction, feeling a little pride fill his sternum. Placing the condom on him, he rolled on top of her, placing a hand between her tights to spread them slightly. The whole time he looked down at Kate who was beneath him, perceiving something new in her eyes. It was something like desire, worry, and nervousness mixed all at once.

Rick knew it was her first time and it must be something to be nervous and worry about, so he was determined to do everything he could to make her feel comfortable and good.

"Relax." He whispered into her ear and then more gently than she could have ever dreamed of, he slid into her, inch by inch, allowing her to adjust to him before pushing deeper. It was really strange sensation. She felt just a little burning friction and pain at her entrance, making her eyebrows knit together to suppress a whimper. Rick stilled inside of her, waiting patiently for her to open her eyes. When her eye lashes flipped open to glance at his blue ones, she bit on her lip and encouraged him to continue with a simple nod of her head.

He slid inside and out the half of his manhood in slow motions inside of her, noticing the way her nails were scraping the skin of his shoulders.

Kate didn't look down, though. She didn't want to see the proof of her defiling. Instead, she watched at him the whole time, his eyes, loving and lips parted. There was already little sweat formed on his forehead.

"Are you okay?" He breathed out in concern. Even though the pain burned as he filled her, with each stroke it started to get almost enjoyable. "Do you want to stop?"

 _Sweet, caring man._

Her head shook, sliding her hand down to touch his butt and make him fill her completely. "Don't stop, it's starting to – feel good." He let out a gasp of surprise by her unexpected move and pushed deeper, but not too deep. He was afraid to push any further than this, so he continued to move with slow, easy strokes, still giving her body time to adjust to the foreignness of it all. Moving inside her like a caress, his hands on her ribs just as gentle, while she guided his movements, and his speed.

"Oh, _fuck_ -" She cursed in gasps and for a second there he worried if it was too painful, but when she hitched her legs up higher, opening herself up wider, so he continued to plug in and out. "This is so good…"

Rick choked out a laugh, his breath shaky, because _yeah – it felt so damn good._ She was so tight and wet; he was not going to last much longer. The bubble was going to burst soon, if she didn't stop moving her hips like this.

"Kate, I-"She was resting her hand against his neck, feeling his pulse thrum beneath her thumb. He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer to push inside from another angle. The friction caused her back to arch, and her eyes to slam shut in pleasure. She was making sounds that normally she would be embarrassed about, but right now it felt too good to care at all. "I'm not going to - to last much longer."

She struggled to keep her eyes open and give him back that same intensity and amount of passion, but she just felt so much – it was so great. The best feeling she had ever experienced in her life. Thank, God that first experience was with Rick. She wasn't so sure it would be good if it was with another person. "Me too."

"Let go, Kate – don't hold back." She shifted her hips into his, pulling herself closer. Brushing her fingers down his jaw, she focused in on his face and his eyes and his mouth. She started rocking and thrusting her hips more forcefully and he took her hint, rocking shallowly with her. Her entire body shuddered as she swept her fingers across herself, desperate for release.

"Yes! Just right there - _oh_ ," Kate gasped as everything snapped, flooding through her. _Fuck._ It grew quickly, and hit her faster than she had expected. Kate shuddered beneath him, her mouth open with a loud moan as the orgasm swept through her.

He groaned after a few more thrusts, clutching at her as she started to come down, his hips stuttering before stilling. He breathed harshly, collapsing on top of her, pressing himself against her glittering with sweat body.

"Oh, my God, Kate that was-"

"-amazing." She cut him off, placing a trembling hand over his cheek, breathing in the scent of incredible sex.

"Yeah, we are definitely great at this." He said, earning a low giggle from her.

"We should do it more regularly then."

"I like the sound of it." He murmured in a husky voice, stroking her temple and rosy cheeks.

"Hey, Rick," She stroked the corner of his eye to make him meet her shining eyes. "Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me for this, Kate." A sweet, understanding smile formed on his lips. "I look forward to give you so much more than this."

Somehow his words always made her heart frequently thrum against her ribs.

"But, eh – now I'll," he gestured to the toilet with his thumb and down between their bodies. "I am gonna have to take care of this."

"Go." She smiled tiredly at him, watching through weary lashes as he headed towards the bathroom.

The best night of her life.

* * *

 **The French song I chose for this chapter is actually pretty nice. If you want to hear it you can check it out on youtube it's called "Julien dore - Paris". I am really saddened by the events in Paris on Friday 13th. :( If there are any French readers out here I want to tell you that I am praying hard for all of you and your families. I hope everything is okay and you are safe. Stay strong! You have my support from Bulgaria.**

 **No matter the storm**

 **There's always a rainbow**

 **After the rain.**

* * *

 **Aaaand... Finally a sex scene. What cha' think?**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N:** Sorry for not updating, I had a really busy schedule.

* * *

He dreamt of something really beautiful. So beautiful that he didn't want to wake up. Unfortunately the images of the dream were starting to fade very quickly, making his system flood with frustration.

But then he felt some warm weight draped over his body, making his eyes open to look at the most breathtaking sight.

It was Kate and it was not a dream.

The hazel eyes illuminated by the sunlight that stared back at his blue ones weren't a dream either. Her chin was propped against his chest to be able to stare up at him with mesmerizing gaze. Her brown hair was beautifully muffled and glowing.

Actually pretty much every part of her was glowing at the moment.

"Hey there." Rick said hoarsely, making her come down to earth.

Her thoughtful eyes flinched at the sound of his morning voice, trapping her bottom lip between her teeth and smiling shyly. "Hey."

"How are you feeling?" Rick asked softly, placing a hand over her warm cheek.

Her lips curved into big, adorable smile. So big that her white teeth showed, making his heart flutter rapidly. _So beautiful._ "Happy."

 _Happy._

It was such a small word, but she made it sound so powerful and big. By the look on her face, he could tell that she was telling the truth. Kate was happy, which meant he was happy too.

"Come'ere." He murmured with a small gesture of his hand, making her crawl closer to him. Her arms wrapped around his torso to bury her face against the skin of his neck. Their chests were pressed flush against each other, allowing him to feel the rapid beat of her heart.

And the warm feeling that radiated from her breasts, as well.

"This wasn't a dream, was it?" She whispered next to his ear, making him shiver.

His head shook, a small and loving smile formed on his lips. "Nope, I believe it wasn't a dream."

Silence surrounded them, the only thing that he was aware were the little kisses that Kate was trailing up and down on his throat. Then up towards the line of his jaw and cheekbones, feeling his stubble against her soft lips. Her legs were tangled with his and her core was pressed against his muscular tight.

"Thank you." He heard her mumble against his cheek, giving him the urge to hold her as tight as he could. Not too tight, though. It would break her slim and fragile body.

He pulled back a little to be able to see her face, a little crinkle formed between his eyebrows. "You don't have to thank me for this, Kate. This is the least I can give you. I look forward give you, so much more."

"Still." She bit on the inside of her cheek, a little blush covering her features. "I am thankful for this, for _you_. You were so great the whole time and I don't mean only last night. I mean before, after – you were so patient and gentle with me. Protective, too."

"It's because -," he wanted to say it so badly, it caught up inside of his throat. _Because I love you._ But he didn't. "Because you're so much worth it and you deserve everything."

Oh, well that was kind of cliché.

He did terribly bad at explaining himself to her, but judging by Kate's expression it wasn't so bad. Her eyes were shining with surprise and the next thing he felt was her soft and warm mouth sliding against his. Rick immediately parted his lips to her, stroking the naked side of her ribs.

A little breathy, moan came out of Kate's mouth, nipping at his bottom lip. "I am sorry for ruining the moment, but I – eh, I am going to be late for lectures."

"Oh." His eyes widened slightly reminding himself that he was going to be late too. "Right, me too."

"We can continue this tonight?" She asked shyly, hiding her face behind the layers of hair.

"Sounds good." Rick nodded in agreement and watched as she pulled away to stand up from the bed. Taking the sheet and wrapping it around herself, she headed for the bathroom. On her way there Kate felt a strange sensation between her legs, frowning.

She had to walk super carefully and slowly, otherwise she would fall flat on her face due to her legs giving out.

 _Fuck._

Kate was walking funny.

* * *

"Hey, you – stop for a second!"

Rick was walking in an alley that was leading to the university when he heard a voice somewhere from behind him. He was with headphones on, but he still heard it somehow. At first he assumed it was not for him, but there was no one around.

Taking off his headphones to turn around, he met with the sight of a man with gray hair and a little over-grown beard. "Um, hello?"

"Excuse me, but are you - is this West 116th Street?" The man asked, scratching at his neck and looking suspiciously at Rick. He was wearing a long brown coat, Bowling Green scarf and torn shoes. _So baseball fan, huh?_

"Yes, that's it." Rick responded politely, pointing at the street that came into view from the alley and then he looked down at his watch. "I – eh, I'm kind of late for work-,"

"Are you working at the Columbia University?" It caught him off guard, because _what the hell_ – why was this man asking him things like that? "You Professor or something?"

"How is any of this your concern?" Rick's brows gathered in confusion, gripping at the shoulder strap of his backpack.

"Well, it's not." He responded, coldly. "But my daughter is."

 _What?_

"Your daughter? - _Awghhh!"_ Sharp knuckles collided with his nose with unexpected force, making him stumble back and hold onto his bruised nose. "Shit, what the hell is wrong with you!?"

Blood started flooding down from his nose, red drops, leaving traces on the pavement floor.

A loud groan escaped Rick's mouth when the man gripped him hard on the collar of his jacket to shove him into the brick wall. His spine made a cracking sound. "Listen, very carefully – this is not funny business here." The man spoke through gritted teeth, still holding tight onto his jacket. His breath smelled like alcohol and it quickly rang a bell to Rick, who that guy might be.

"If you don't stop fooling around with Katie like she is some kind of a prey or sacrifice, I'm going to go through the doors of that building and report you to the administration and the whole court, put charges on you-"

"I'm not fooling around like she's a prey." Rick cut him off, snapping at the uncontrolled father. "I'm not forcing her into anything, she wants it. We both do."

Once again the man shoved him into the wall, this time even harder. Coming closer to Rick, he looked into his eyes angrily. "I told you to listen, didn't I? Do it carefully, because I'm a lawyer. I have so many contacts and relatives in the court, I can ruin your life if you don't step away from my daughter."

"I'm not stepping away from Kate." Rick shook his head, breathing heavily under the man's angry gaze and tight grip. "And you are nothing but a sorrowed old man who beaten up his own daughter and left her behind. We can tell that to the court, as well. Right?"

Her father's grip on him loosened a little bit to step away and point his finger at Rick's chest. "You are a grown man. For God's sake, you're a damn Professor! Don't you feel guilty and ashamed of yourself to get advantage of nineteen year old student?"

Rick's breath hitched in his throat at the man's words, feeling a little pain squeeze him inside.

"I am not taking advantage of Kate." Rick whispered, brushing the blood from his nose. "I helped her when you decided to wreck her even more. She needed her father's support and hugs, not mine. Kate needed you, but what you did? You fucking _shattered_ her, you lost your daughter."

"I didn't lose her, Katie loves me."

"I'm not saying she doesn't love you, I'm saying that she is doing pretty good without you." He shrugged and then stepped forwards to move away from the old man. "You could've seen that you have a daughter that needed her father a long time ago, but you made your own decision. Kate is young, clever woman and she can make her own decisions, as well. If she didn't feel happy with me, she would have left me by now."

There was heavy and big vulnerability written over the man's face, looking pretty much beaten and hurt by Rick's words.

"We could've talked like a normal human beings." Rick felt some kind of compassion and pity for Kate's father. "Anyway, thanks for punching me in the nose, though."

Kate's father was standing there motionless, watching at Rick with anger and sadness mixed all over at once.

"Oh, and by the way her birthday was on November 17th. You could've at least called to wish her a Happy Birthday. She's twenty years old now."

And then he left.

* * *

Kate didn't think much about it when five minutes already passed from the beginning of the lecture and he was still not here.

Until they turned from five minutes into ten and then ten minutes turned into twenty.

Yes, he was late sometimes… but never for that long. He was strict and serious about his job. Rick wouldn't just disappear and decide not to go. There was a reason standing behind all of this.

Becoming more nervous than ever, she tried calling on his cellphone, but he never picked up. So she decided to leave him a voice message. And couple of text messages, as well.

 ** _Hey, Rick where are you? Sent 13:41PM_**

 ** _Is everything okay? Sent 15:01PM_**

 ** _I am kind of starting to worry. Please let me know if you see this… Sent 15:34PM_**

She sighed during her maths lecture and ran a nervous hand through her hair, her phone at her desk. She waited for a response, but her phone never made a sound. It made her think that maybe if she stared long enough at the phone it will start ringing or something.

But it never did.

Trying not to panic over something that could be nothing, Kate waited for this lecture to end.

* * *

After knocking twice on his door, she waited bouncing slightly on her feet.

It would be a big fat lie if she said that she wasn't feeling nervous. Her hands were sweaty and she was pretty warm despite the cold weather outside. Meteorologists say that soon it'll be snowing.

 _Damn it too much time._

Normally it wouldn't take him so long to open the door. Sometimes he even opened it before she was able to knock.

As Kate was about to turn around and head for the elevator the door swung open, making her spin on her heels to look at him.

Her heart dropped at the sight of him looking so miserable and wrecked. His nose was slightly bandaged and his hair was muffled at one side, part of it was covering his forehead.

Before she knew it her legs were moving towards him, her arms wrapping his body in a long awaited hug and burying her face into his chest. "Rick, what on earth happened?"

The only response she got from him was the light squeeze he made to tighten their hug.

* * *

 **...To Be Continued...**


	23. Chapter 23

_"Rick, what on earth happened?"_

 _The only response she got from him was the light squeeze he made to tighten their hug._

* * *

The first, second Kate saw him standing so miserable and cheerless on the doorstep, her feet quickly carried her to him.

She didn't know the reason for his lack of absence during lectures, but seeing him like this made her think that something unpleasant happened to him.

She wanted to look up at him, make him say something, but Rick was just holding her stiffly without even bothering if it was too tight or not.

"Rick?" She mumbled against the fabric of his shirt, trying to remind him that she was there. It made him pull away slightly to create some space between them, but instead of talking he leaned down to press his lips against hers in hard and fierce kiss.

At first it really got to her and it made her crave for more, but something was _not right_. Something was wrong and not only with his broken nose or mood, but with his way of kissing too.

Normally he would caress her face gently, peck her, stroke the hair away from her face – now it was nothing like this. Now it was like he was trying to get as much as he could from it and prevent them from talking.

He was hiding.

The next thing Kate was aware of was her body frame being crushed against the closed door, his hips painfully trapping her there. It made her grunt non-pleasantly, wishing he could stop and explain what happened instead of – doing _this_.

Despite of his hard way of kissing she tried to be gentle as much, because of his bandaged nose.

Despite how much she wanted to continue kissing him, Kate pressed a hand against his sternum to push him back slightly.

He puffed impatiently with his brows furrowed, bending down to capture her mouth once again. "No, wait – Rick stop."

"Did I hurt you?" His features immediately transformed into worry.

She watched as his eyes lifted up and down as if to check if every part of her body was in its place. "No, babe I'm fine, " she spoke softly, gazing up at his lovely face. "But it's clear that you are not."

She noticed the way his Adam apple lifted when he swallowed, the way his red rimmed eyes averted to look somewhere else and hide his vulnerability.

This cheerful, happy and amazing man – her heart was breaking seeing him like this.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really, but we have to." He chewed on the inside of his cheek and searched for her hand to clasp it in his own. "Let's sit, are you hungry?"

"No, I'm fine. Thanks, Rick." She smiled softly and let him drag her towards the couch to sit.

For some reason her insides flipped, feeling very nervous all of sudden.

They sat next to each other and Rick lifted up his leg on the couch to be able to rotate towards her, his knee brushing her thighs

"There are actually a few things that we need to talk about." He swallowed again, making Kate nod slowly as if she was figuring out what he meant by this. "First thing is that, I eh – I resigned."

 _Did she hear correctly?_

He perceived as Kate's face completely fell into a big despondent look, her breath hitched in her throat and her eyelashes trembled at his announcement. "You resigned?," she whispered, her voice unsteady and weak.

He only nodded sadly, running a hand through his hair.

"You are not going to be our Professor anymore?" She asked, searching for an explanation in his eyes but she didn't find any.

"Look, Kate, don't get upset about this. It's for the best." He spoke softly, trying to calm her.

"But I loved having you there, it made lectures so much better. Every day when I took my bus, I looked forward to your lectures and seeing you. Now how am I going to go there without you?" she asked, feeling the tears starting to burn in her eyes. "Everything was perfectly fine, why – did you?"

"Kate," he sighed, taking her hand in his own to capture her attention to what he was about to say. "Nothing's changed. Besides, I really sucked at acting, good around this job, because it was actually pretty _not-good_ for me. I didn't feel happy."

Kate sniffled quietly, brushing her eyes with her hand. "I'm going to miss you there."

She felt pretty selfish for reacting in this way, but she couldn't stop the tears from spilling. He was no longer her Literature Professor and it made her heart clench painfully with just the thought of going out there without him _there_. He was no longer Prof. Rodgers.

"Hey, it's not like I'm disappearing," He spoke softly, stroking her hand. "Please don't cry."

He hated watching her cry and he didn't mean to be the cause of it.

"Why were you missing today?" She asked brokenly, her eyes lifting to his bandaged nose. "Who did that to you?"

"I, eh nobody. I stumbled," he murmured, stroking the back of his neck.

"Babe, please tell me the truth." She begged gently, biting her lips in frustration.

"I told you, Kate. It's, - I just fell."

"Then why were you missing?" Her brows knitted, feeling sad for the fact that he didn't want to share it with her.

He knew that he couldn't get away with this and that she had to know the truth, but it was so hard to say it. Rick knew that her life was really hard and he didn't want to make it even harder by saying that her drunken father punched him. She would feel embarrassed, but on the other hand, he had to be honest.

It would be better if he didn't keep things from her.

"I met with your father." Rick sighed, looking at her widened and shocked eyes.

"Wait, what – why?" She asked.

After a couple of seconds in which Rick was trying to form the right sentence to say, he heard a gasp escape Kate's mouth.

"He did that to you?"

He didn't say anything, just bobbing his head slightly.

 _Of course, he did._

"Oh my God," She gripped her hair in her fists, pulling it tightly. "Fuck-"

"Kate, hey – it's not a big deal. Your dad was just a little mad, I don't blame him. I totally deserved it."

"No, Rick - how could you even say that?" Anger built up inside her, making her pull on her hair even harder. "He can't do that, this is too much. I'm so sor-"

"Don't." He immediately cut her off, pulling her in for a hug. "It's not your fault, don't you dare blame yourself for that."

"I'm so sorry." She whispered.

"Kate, look at me." He pulled her slightly to be able to gaze down at her red rimmed eyes. "It's not your fault. Hell, it's not even your father's fault. I mean – he had the perfect reason to hit me. He actually made me think about some things."

"What reason – what things, Rick?" She frowned, her hands sweating beneath his. "What did he say to you that actually made you agree with him?"

He noticed how tense, nervous and upset she had become since the beginning of this conversation. It made him want to punch himself for even mentioning these things.

"Kate," he sighed, closing his eyes in regret. "How would one father react if he learnt that some stupid Professor is dating his daughter? Hell, even if I had a daughter, I would go insane with just the thought of it."

 _She knew where this conversation was going._

"You're not just a Professor, Rick. Come on please don't talk _shit_ ; we've been through so much together. My father knows nothing and don't forget to remind yourself that you were the one who rescued me from him. Don't let him get to you; he doesn't even know who I am."

"I know," he frowned, shaking his head at the images that flooded through his mind. "You're right, but I can't help it. I feel guilty and ashamed of the fact that I-"

"You feel ashamed that you made me the happiest person on the planet, is that it?"

"Don't say that, I didn't do anything." He mumbled and she couldn't help but wonder what was wrong with him.

"Dammit, Rick I mean it!" Her hand gripped his tightly as if she was afraid he was going to go somewhere. "If it wasn't for you I would've killed myself till now."

"Kate, -"

"Stop denying everything, it's the truth." Her body inched closer, putting her hands on his stubble cheeks. "Rick,"

They stared into each other, emotions caressing the air between them, filling the space with tension.

"I want you to know that these past months have been one of the best days of my life. I haven't been this happy in years. Not since before my mom's murder." She confessed, making his heart thrum violently against his ribs. Her thumb brushed away a tear that somehow escaped from his eye, stroking his cheekbone and sharp jawline.

Even with the puffy, bloodshot eyes, he was still handsome. He was definitely the opposite of an ugly crier. He could never be ugly, he was perfect..., and she _loves_ him.

She just wanted to tell him. _'Just say it.'_ Her inner voice whispered. And she did. "Rick, - I'm in love with you."

He stood there frozen. She had said it.

 _She loves him._

"I'm so madly in love with you, I can't even express how much you mean to me and how much-"Kate went to open her mouth, but she didn't get that far.

Rick inched forward and covered her mouth with his, soft and mind numbing. She couldn't think, she couldn't move all she could do was melting into him and feel the soft caress of his lips.

His hands covered her cheeks, curling fingers through her soft hair, sipping from her mouth passionately. "Kate," he whispered shakily against her lips. "I love you since the first time I met you."

* * *

 **First 'I love you' hahaha :] Reviews? Thanks for reading, have a nice day.**


	24. Chapter 24

**EPILOGUE  
**

* * *

Ever since no-longer Prof. Rodgers resigned from his job things changed drastically.

For example: Kate graduated law school. She decided that it would be for the best if she chooses to do a law degree instead of attending the police academy, even though she had have been better informed about what it's really like to be a law student.

She wanted to become a lawyer.

The idea of being a detective and solving her mother's murder dropped. Now that she had everything she needed, this desire to catch the people responsible for it started to fade away.

She had always known that being happy and taking care of her own life would make her mother much happier rather than chasing bad guys and getting daily near-death experiences.

Besides, it would've been very dumb to not take for granted what life gave to her.

 _Rick._

Her one and only Rick.

After Kate's graduation, he revealed himself to her about his writing and desire to become a mystery author.

At first she was really surprised, but thinking about it actually made her think that it fits him perfectly. From the first moment he shared this with her, Kate started encouraging him to write as many pages as he could and search for a publisher.

So he did it not only for him, but mostly, because she emboldened him to do it and the fact that she was by his side the whole time is one of the reasons he became a successful author.

His first novel, In a Hail of Bullets, accrued at least 21 rejections before being accepted by a publisher. Of course, he got a little saddened and unmotivated, but Kate took the first rejection letter he received and framed it on his office wall for him as motivation.

He won the Nom DePlume Society's Tom Straw Award for Mystery Literature and now his most popular works were a series starring "Derrick Storm".

* * *

She was on her way to his first book party, fumbling through the streets of Manhattan and trying to catch a cab.

Now that he had a lot of money, Rick insisted on calling a car service for her, but she declined. She didn't want all the paparazzi attention to be focused on her when she arrives.

Her heart was thrumming excitedly, her breath labored about the fact that this was his first book party and that there were going to be lots of other famous mystery writers.

 _My babe became an author_ ; she thought to herself and grinned excitedly.

Finally, after getting a cab and arriving at the place she paid and thanked to the driver making her way out of the vehicle.

She was focused on the thought of getting as fast as she could and see her boyfriend that she didn't notice the person walking straight into her.

His big frame collided with her smaller one; apologies started escaping her mouth, even though it wasn't entirely her fault. "Oh, _fuck_ -, I'm so sorry I was just in a real hurry-"

"Kate?" Whoever this guy was, he said her name which immediately made Kate's head snap up to look at his features. "Katherine Beckett?" He repeated again as if he was remembering something.

Her eyes quickly widened at the realization that this guy might be.

"Jason?" She asked with furrowed brows. He was one of Josh's dumb buddies, which made her swallow nervously. It was stupid. She wasn't even a student anymore and things related to Josh and his friends were forgotten a long time ago, but it still made her insides clench in worry. "I, ah, gotta go. Bye."

She was about to walk away from him, but he caught her by the elbow. "Wa – wait," when Kate turned around to face him a smug smirk appeared on Jason's face.

 _Here we go._

"You're the girl from the university that had an affair with our Literature Professor, right?" He laughed mockingly at her.

Ever since everybody from the university heard that there was something between her and Prof. Rodgers, Kate decided that it would be for the best to change her school.

She kept in touch only with her best friend Lanie.

"We were wondering where you were Kate." His eyebrows raised in wonder. "We all wanted to know and ask you if he really took your virginity back then."

Her heart clenched in hurt by his harsh and contemptuous words.

Kate pursed her lips and fisted her hands tightly at her sides, responding with quiet "Fuck off.", before turning around towards the entrance.

She heard him scoff somewhere behind her, but she only straightened her spine and headed towards the book party.

* * *

Rick was already getting tired of flashing fake smiles to all the unfamiliar faces around there. The place was crowded with people dancing, drinking coctails, and even some of them asked him for autographs.

It was still new to him, but he gladly gave them an autograph. Some of the blondies asked him to sign her chest, but he politely brushed her off.

None of these women were filling his interests. His mind was focused only on Kate and when she was coming.

He was sitting on one of the bars, unconsciously shaking his leg trying to be more patient.

But he couldn't help it. They were so in love that he couldn't stand even an hour without her by his side.

His eyes were darting off and on all the time at the entrance, expecting to see her somewhere there, but there was still no sign of-

"Excuse me?" His head immediately twisted at the too familiar voice. "Can you sign my chest, please?"

There she was standing in some seriously seductive vibes in smoking gray midi dress. It was with plunging v neckline and black elasticated straps. This dress gave her a standout silhouette with the killer black strappy heels.

She was the hottest thing he had ever seen in his life.

There was a playful smirk formed on her lips, watching at him excitedly.

"Kate." He breathed out in happiness and the next thing she knew was that his arms were wrapped tightly around her shoulders, pressing her into his chest and breathing in the aroma of her hair. "You're here."

"Yeah, Rick where else would I be?" She teased, nuzzling her nose into his neck.

"I missed you." Rick confessed closing his eyes to savor the feeling of her body cradled in his.

"I missed you, too, babe." She whispered, pulling back to brush a strand of hair that escaped onto his forehead.  
His lips curved into a wide grin at the fact that she called him 'babe'.

"How is the book party going?" She asked, looking around at the people surrounding them.

"It's really great, but it got even greater now that you are here." He leaned down to pepper her with kisses on the skin of her warm cheek. "By the way I got to meet with James Patterson."

"Really!? You did?" She asked with wide pupils, a smile gracing her features. His head bobbed twice in confirmation.

"I did, but it was not for really long. But at least I got to exchange some words with him. He even told me how good my work is and that he couldn't wait my next book to be published."

"Rick, that's fantastic!" Kate cheered happily, reaching out to gently clasp his hand in hers. "I'm so happy for you."

"It would've not happened if you weren't with me the whole time, though." He spoke with seriousness that clouded his blue eyes, making her lean in and press a longing kiss against his soft lips.

They were so caught up in the moment and kissing that they didn't even notice the woman that stood right next to them. She cleared her throat to get their attention and finally Rick opened his right eye to meet his publisher's presence. He gently pulled away from Kate, breaking their kiss with a soft pop. Kate's brows knotted in confusion, but then she noticed the women at their side and blushed furiously.

 _Oh._

"Sorry for interrupting, but I wanted to inform you that the party is closing in an hour or so and you have left another ten books that you have to sign." Her eyes were on Rick and he nodded, swallowing what's left in his mouth from Kate's tongue.

"Of course, yeah. No problem." He responded, squeezing Kate's hand.

He noticed that Gina's eyes were now glued on Kate and that her hand started sweating a little bit under his. "Oh, uh, Gina this is my girlfriend Katherine Beckett." He spoke with pride that filled his sternum. "Kate this is my publisher Gina Cowell."

His publisher extended a hand at Kate, offering a handshake which Kate gladly accepted. "Nice to meet you, Kate. I've heard great things about you from Richard."

"Likewise." Kate nodded, smiling politely and blushing at his publisher's words. "And thanks, I guess." She mumbled shyly, sharing a glance with Rick.

Suddenly she felt her phone vibrating inside of her purse, looking up at Rick and then at Gina.

"I'm sorry, I'll be back in a minute." and then she's moving to distance herself in some more quiet place.

"She looks intriguing." Gina commented, looking at Rick in wonder. "Very beautiful, too."

He bit on the inside of his cheek at her words, nodding. "Yeah, she is."

She was a lot more than any of these words, but he decided to shut his mouth and keep his words only for her. Not that he didn't want people to know how much he admired and loved her but he didn't want her to be the limelight. He didn't want people to make her a target for page six.

They talked about his next book and contract with Black Pawn which refers to the publishing company. After a long five minute talk with Gina, she finally managed to stroll away from him.

He placed hands inside the pockets of his pants and glanced around the crowds of people. His eyes darted everywhere, but there was no sign of Kate.

His feet carried him away from the bar, heading towards one of the corridors to search for her. He had no idea where he was going. This place was huge and full of unfamiliar faces.

As he was taking a turn in one of the corridors which led him to the toilets, he bumped into Kate. He startled and caught her by the elbows and when he took a better look at her face, Rick noticed that there were tears streaming down on her cheeks.

"Kate?" His breath caught in his throat at the sight of her trembling lip and unfocused, bloodshot eyes. "Kate, what happened? Did someone hurt you?" He squeezed her arms, trying to get her attention to him. The only thing he got from her was a quiet sniffle and shake of her head.

"Then what happened, why are you crying?" He extended his hand towards her cheek to brush off some of the flooding tears. "Kate, please tell me what's going on, babe."

Her eyes shifted to look at him, her shoulders slumping in defeat.

"He's dying." She whispered with a shaky voice.

Before he was about to ask 'who's dying?' he answered himself.

"Your dad?" He asked gently, brushing off a strand of hair that had escaped from her ear, his touch comforting and calming. She nodded briefly and he tugged her body closer to his to cradle her body against his.

"They contacted me from the hospital." She whispered against his ear, sniffling.

"The doctor said that they found him passed out in the stairwell of his building. They made him blood and urine tests to check blood alcohol levels and identify other signs and –"She hiccupped, gathering strength to continue her sentence. "They said that, - he has symptoms of high liver diseases and that if he didn't stop himself from drinking any sooner, he'll…"

He knew what that meant, so he didn't push her to tell him anymore. Instead, he managed to do something about it.

"Which hospital?" He asked softly, dragging her with him towards the exit.

"No, Rick I'll go by myself you have work to do, I can't, – it's your book party." She mumbled, breathing heavily.

"There's no way I am leaving you alone in this, Kate. You know me."

"But the books-"

"The books can wait. Now tell me which hospital we have to go to."

* * *

"Family of Jim Beckett?" A nurse called out, holding a folder and looking around the corridor.

Kate immediately jumped out of her seat at the sound of someone mentioning her father's name. Rick followed after her, noticing the way her whole body frame was struggling to stay upright.

"How is he?" That was the first thing that escaped her mouth, approaching the nurse. "Is he conscious? Can I see him?"

"May I ask how are you related to our patient?" The nurse asked with raised eyebrows.

Kate's mouth opened to snap at the woman dressed in medical uniform, but Rick stepped next to her and spoke before she could. "She's his daughter - Katherine Beckett and I'm her boyfriend, Richard Castle."

Recognition flashed through the nurse's eyes. Looks like someone read the article about him on page six this morning.

"How is he?" Kate asked once again, breaking the silence.

The nurse opened the folder, taking out some papers that had to do something with her father's condition.

"Mr. Beckett has an alcoholic liver disease that usually occurs after years of heavy drinking. Alcohol can cause inflammation in the liver and over time, scarring and cirrhosis can occur." Kate gulped nervously and she didn't even realize that Rick was holding her hand until he squeezed it in support.

"We made several tests and repeated them to be sure. Cirrhosis is the final phase of alcoholic liver disease, which Mr. Beckett gladly doesn't have."

Rick noticed the way Kate's eyes started shining from another wave of tears that she was trying to hold back from escaping. It was the first time he saw her in such state.

He wasn't there when her mother died; he didn't know her back then. All of this was still so fresh for her. She was still healing from what happened before and now she had to deal with this too…

How come life made a healing heart to get even more broken?

"Is -, is he going to die?" She gathered courage to ask.

The nurse pursed her lips tightly and nodded, "Yes, he will die if he doesn't stop using alcohol completely."

She nearly fainted.

"So there is a chance?" Rick asked his voice filled with small hope for Kate's father.

"Yes, but Mr. Beckett does not have to take this for granted and he has to stop drinking immediately." She informed them. "If liver cirrhosis has not yet occurred, the liver can heal if you stop drinking alcohol."

Kate bobbed her head twice and rubbed at her forehead, biting so hard on her lip – it would start bleeding if she didn't stop.

 _So there is still a hope._

That's all she needed to know. If there was still a hope.

"Can we see him?" Rick asked, rubbing calming circles over Kate's knuckles.

"Mr. Beckett is still under very hard medications, and we have one left abdominal ultrasound to do. It is used to look at organs in the abdomen, including the liver, spleen, pancreas, and kidneys. We need to make sure something else is not damaged. It will take some time, so I advise you to go buy some food, walk around – we'll contact with you over the phone."

Kate was under deep stress, so Rick managed to talk instead of her. "Thank you for explaining to us and taking care of him. We'll be around here, waiting."

"It's our job to do so." The nurse smiled and disappeared into the hallways of the hospital.

He turned around to look at Kate's miserable and heartbreaking slumped form. Taking a few steps to stand in front of her, he placed his soft hands over her cheeks to make her look at him.

There were still tears gushing down on her face, her mascara washed away from them.

It amazed him how beautiful she was even like this.

"Hey," he mumbled quietly. "Your dad's going to be fine."

"How do you know?" Her voice quivered.

"We'll find him a great place for rehab, he'll stop drinking, and then we'll live happily ever after."

"Rick, he hadn't stopped drinking until now – what makes you think that he'll do it ever?"

"Because this time we will not let him drink no matter what and now… things are different Kate." He whispered reassuringly, still stroking her cheeks. "I have enough money to find your father the best place for rehab."

Her head shook in disagreement, saying "I can't ask you to do such thing. It's my responsibility to take care of my dad."

"Yes, Kate he is your father, but that doesn't mean you have to do this alone. I am not going to leave you."

She shook her head once again, trying to turn around and escape from him, but he tightened his grip on her scalp to keep her there. Not too tight, just to get her attention.

Hazel, red eyes met with hopeful blue ones.

"I love you, Kate. I love you so much." His voice trembled with emotion, his eyes filling with tears.

Seeing him like this made something inside of her snap. "I know you do." She smiled, bringing up her hand to place it over his on her cheek. "I do too. More than anything."

They were inches apart from each other; it didn't take him much to lean down and press his lips against hers.

She immediately opened her mouth under his, swallowing his breath and whispers of love. Her hands lifted up in the air to place them over his scalp and run her fingers through the soft hair there.

As he stroked his tongue over bottom lip and nipping gently at it to soothe it, he pulled back to be able to gaze down at her.

"Kate?" He asked his voice deeper than before.

"Yes, Rick?"

"Look, - I had planned something for tonight and wanted to, - I wanted to take you out, but it looks like we'll have to stick around here for today." He said, pecking her on the nose slightly. "Which is perfectly fine for me, but I wanted to, - I…"

She observed the way there was a little bit sweat forming over his forehead. He looked really nervous. She had never seen him so nervous before.

"What's going on? Is everything alright?" She asked anxiously, biting on her bottom lip.

"No, yes – yeah." He stumbled over his words. "Everything's fine."

She was about to say something, but then he stepped back a little bit from her and pushed a hand inside his pants back pocket, looking extremely nervous.

"I wanted to ask you something really important."

Her brows furrowed and then realization hit her hard. He was proposing.

There was no time like the present to move on. It didn't matter to him that he didn't take her out on a fancy date, what mattered most was her response to all of this. He wanted to know where they were going with this.

"I've been meaning to ask you this for a long time…"

"Rick." She whispered in shock, her hands covering her slack jawed mouth.

Next thing she knew was that Richard Castle was taking out a velvet box from his back pocket, bending down on one knee in front of her in the hospital hallway.

"Katherine Houghton Beckett, I love you more than words can ever express. You're the most thoughtful, generous, kind and beautiful woman I've ever had the fortune to know and I can't imagine growing old with anyone else, nor do I want to. You deserve the very best, someone who will back you up without limits, let you grow without borders, and love you without end. Will you let me be the one?" He spoke each word while staring into her eyes, trying to keep his voice steady. "Kate, will you marry me?"

There was a deep silence and he worried himself that she might not want to, but the worry quickly faded away when she jumped into his arms screaming, laughing, and crying all at once. She dragged his head down by the neck to meet his mouth with hers in breathtaking, almost bruising kiss.

"Yes!" She mumbled in between kisses, making his heart burst with happiness.

She said yes.

"Really?" He panted, looking with wide pupils at her.

A couple minutes ago she was crying, because of her dad's bad condition. Now she was crying again, but they were all happy tears.

"Yes, Rick, - yes, God, I love you so much."

After sliding the diamond ring onto her slim finger they both knew that everything is going to be okay.

* * *

 **Hey, guys. I'm really sorry it took me so long to post the last chapter, but I've been in some kind of writer-block-thing and I couldn't bring myself to start writing it. However, today I did it somehow. :D I want to say huge "THANK YOU" to every single person who managed to spend some of their time to read my story and leave a review. It was really fun and exciting for me everytime I posted a new chapter! I love you all, take care & be happy.**

 **Twitter: rickate_caskett**


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